From Under the Star Filled Sky
by Petileo
Summary: After living in obscurity for most of his childhood, Naruto finds that in Tokyo, he's ventured too deep into the secret underbelly of a culture not his own. Luckily, aid comes in the form of one mysterious and mortally dangerous demon, Uchiha Sasuke.Sasunaru.
1. The Village Hidden in the Leaves

Disclaimer: I don't won Naruto.

**A/N: Well, i finally gathered the courage for a Sasunaru fic! I suppose i should give you a full list of warnings though, ne? It's going to be a wild ride after all, and know that it is M for a reason, though these won't come until later (in the violent and more importantly, in the smexy Yaoi kind too). So, read, enjoy and hopefully review me too!**

Warnings: This story shall include, Yaoi, blood, violence, myths, mystery, alcohol, sex, demons, AU and very possesive lovers. Oh and some highschool too, though it's different from anything before it, I gaurantee it. Watch out, and have fun.

* * *

**The Village Hidden in the Leaves**

The spring mists lay heavy on the forests that year, enshrouding the cedar and maple trees in a thick white blanket from the river valley right up to the mountain tip.

The sun rose slowly, shafts of soft golden light piercing through the haze, only to be caught in the sparkling clear water of the series of waterfalls, which ran all along down the cliff side.

Rabbits darted in and out of the mist, pausing every now and then, with ears perked and ready to hop at the first sign of trouble, while a couple of twittering swallows twirled overhead, beginning their first morning flight.

The clear mountain water gushed downwards, rushing over large smooth stones and tumbling over small ledges to fall into the pools below. The water continued to twist and turn it's way down the hillside, until it spilled over a final overhang and into a slow paced stream, which in turn became a small river as it also twisted it's way down the valley, running it's path through the small rural village of Konohagakure no Sato.

It was amply named, hidden away among the leaves of the surrounding forests and tucked up in the mountains. The only road was made of compacted and dried earth, not uncommon for the many small villages that were dotted around the few large cities of Japan.

Contact with the outside world was limited to the old battered jeep and the presence of the sensei, Umino Iruka, who had travelled to the village some year's prior.

The buildings were old fashioned, typical of old, yet wealthy traditional style. All were centred on one side or the other of the Nakano River, with an ornate wooden bridge connecting both.

There were many trees growing within the village boundaries as well, most providing overhangs of leaf-filled boughs. Due to the time of year, new buds were shooting, providing the entire little village with bright new greenery and small dainty white flowers.

At the Eastern most point, the ground began to rise, as it travelled further up onto the mountain side, here, where earth began to give way to dark grey rock, steps were carved among the maples, leading up to a shrine, ornate and well kept, with two serving priests that kept watch over the most sacred place. It was their duty to protect the powers of the Konoha Shrine, and those who lived about it.

With fresh mountain air, and such clean and pure water, along with the most beautiful surroundings, it was no wonder that Umino Iruka, when he had first come here over six years ago, simply found that when the time came, he just couldn't bring himself to leave.

Or, at least, that's what he told the priests.

It must be said, that there may have been another reason for the young teacher to remain in the secluded countryside; there are many other villages like Konoha after all, all around Japan, yet he had mysteriously chosen to stay.

Iruka smiled faintly to himself as he finished making his morning tea, mysterious reasons indeed.

He glanced around his home as he gently blew into his hot teacup; his house was by far the most…technological, one in the village. In one corner, perched on the beech wardrobe, was his radio, hung on the wall was the clock, and a multitude of bits of city paraphernalia lay on his waxed maple tabletop. He even had curtains hanging in his windows, covering them with coarse waterproof material he had found in the bottom of his supply kit, dug out from the depths of his jeep.

As Iruka sipped on his finally cooled tea, he glanced over to the ticking clock, frowning a little when he saw the time.

He sighed lightly to himself; he was late, but it was only a matter of time until he arrived.

* * *

On the other side of the village, in one of the smaller homes, resided the certain someone that Iruka was waiting so patiently for. It was not quite so elaborate as others surrounding it, and even had a few scratches on the door, but it was substantial nonetheless, especially for just a single person.

Inside, the entire single room was a mess; crumpled discarded clothing lay scattered about on the dark wooden flooring, and the shelves were cluttered haphazardly with far too many items, leaving an assortment of various books, pens, pencils, old workbooks, little tied batches of herbs and the odd roll of bandages, to litter the ground underneath them.

Tucked in one corner of the room, under a large window, was the bed, made of dark wood that matched the rest. A pile of blankets that lay on top couldn't quite entirely cover the person residing within it, due to said person's odd sleeping arrangement; limbs were spread widely, hanging limply over the edges as the boy lay flat on his back, head lolling to the side, with a small trickle of drool seeping from an open mouth.

The boy shifted slightly, turning so his head was in direct contact with the morning light streaming through his open window, yet he did not stir any further. It wasn't until he shifted once more, this time too far, and was sent tumbling out of his bed that Uzumaki Naruto woke up, with a particularly painful thump as he crashed to the rather hard floor.

Blue eyes snapped open as Naruto awoke with a yelp. For a moment he was disorientated, vaguely wondering why he was seeing his ceiling from upside down.

He gave a groan as realisation dawned and he stiffly rolled over onto his hands and knees, before stumbling to a stand, trying to remove himself from his tangle of blankets.

Once free of the restraints, Naruto yawned widely, slumping his shoulders and peering blearily around for the kettle, all the while still half asleep.

It wasn't until he started to slowly sift through the garments on the floor did he notice the date on the makeshift calendar on the wall, full of little, crude, but coloured illustrations.

Eyes snapping almost comically wide, Naruto began to search through his clothes with a much more frantic intensity.

"I'm late, I'm late, I'm really really la-aaate!"

In a sort of clumsy panic, the sunshine blonde quickly grabbed the closest, hopefully clean, yukata and slipped into it hastily.

While still wrestling with his clothes, he started to hop towards his door, pausing briefly only to roughly pull on his wooden sandals.

Uncaring that he was only perhaps half way into his yukata, Naruto burst through his front door, squeaking the hinges terribly in the process and sending it flying into the outside wall, and ingraining a dent even more.

Ignoring the slightly startled expressions from the couple of villagers out and about, Naruto finally shrugged the yukata over his shoulders with a final tug and quickly ran off down past the houses, dodging people he met and sidestepping the occasional small child, all the while maintaining his near constant mantra of "I'm late, I'm late!"

Naruto's sandals made a 'clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack' as he made his way over the short bridge crossing the Nakano river, before he sped off to the right, making his way past an old, but beautiful Sakura tree and down a small earthy hill to the most Western part of the village, and the one lowest on the mountain.

It was very lucky for Naruto that the entire village couldn't be more than three hundred metres across, or he would have been even more late than he already was.

Iruka didn't even look up from his tea as Naruto burst through his front door, frantically skidding to a halt and almost collapsing onto his table, panting for breath and clutching a stitch in his side.

Iruka ignored the young blonde sprawled over the top of his maple counter for a few moments, before glancing at the clock on the wall. He turned back to Naruto.

"You're late."

At this, Naruto simply looked up at his teacher in disbelief, before letting out a pained groan and letting his head fall down onto the table with a heavy _thud_.

This was_ so _not going to be his day, he could tell already.

* * *

It had taken about five minutes, but once Naruto had got his breath back and had sheepishly accepted some morning tea from an exasperated Iruka, Naruto decided to ask the question that he had been itching to ask all week, but had been artfully misdirected by his teacher at every attempt.

"Ne, Iruka-sensei?"

"Mmmm?" said Iruka absentmindedly, sorting through several papers on the table.

"Why did you want to see me today, especially so early?" asked Naruto, just a little nervously as he fiddled with the edge of his yukata. Iruka didn't _seem_ angry, but usually whenever Iruka purposefully called him over, it was to talk about something that was wrong.

And Iruka could be _scary_ when he was angry about something.

Iruka laughed a little, "No need to look so worried Naruto, it's nothing bad or anything, just something I feel we should discuss."

"Oh. Okay then." Said Naruto, a grin starting to split his features.

Iruka smiled a little in return before turning his attention back to his stack of papers, fruitlessly searching through the myriad of homework, applications, sick notes and lesson plans.

Growing bored as Iruka continued to shuffle through his papers, Naruto felt his gaze being drawn to one of the sheets still left on the table, laying merely a few inches from his hand.

Frowning curiously when he saw the formal crest printed upon it, and that the letter was written in type, Naruto span it a little to the side and cocked his head so he could read through it.

By the time he got to the end, his normally tan face had paled quite substantially.

"Iruka-sensei," he questioned in a quite voice, "what is this letter about?"

A little worried that his normally rather loud student was being so quiet, Iruka looked up to see which letter he was talking about. Upon spying the paper lying on the table near Naruto, Iruka gave a tired sigh.

"Ah, yes… I'm afraid that's what I wanted to talk about."

Naruto quickly looked up to his teacher, feeling as if all his fears had been confirmed.

"Then its true then?" he blurted out, feeling his anger begin to rise.

Iruka gave an oddly fond smile towards him, accompanied by that little laugh again.

"Don't tell me you've forgotten the reasons why I came here in the first place, Naruto?" he asked, a little amused, "I was really only supposed to stay here for a year, I was extremely lucky that I managed to convince the school to fund me for such a long extended visit. If they want me to come back, then there is not much that I can really do about it."

Naruto listened in silence, staring fixedly at the maple tabletop. How could Iruka-sensei be leaving? Leaving the village, leaving him?! Didn't he-…didn't he promise that he would never leave him? Never leave him alone again?

This wasn't fair, damn it!

"This isn't fair, damn it!" shouted Naruto, standing abruptly from his chair and slamming his fists onto the table.

"How can you just leave, just like that!? I mean…what about the school here, what will they do if you're gone, and-and-"

Slightly horrified to see tears beginning to prick the edges of Naruto's sky blue eyes, Iruka hastily decided to interrupt.

"Naruto, Naruto, calm down! The village managed just fine before I came here, the priests are just going to have to go back to teaching, like they did before."

"I don't _want_ it to go back to what it was like before," growled Naruto lowly, still standing stiffly straight, hair shadowing his face.

Iruka smiled softly at that admission, still slightly amazed that the boy could hold so much affection for him.

"I know Naruto, that's why I was wondering…"

Naruto glanced up, curios at his teachers questioning tone, though a rebellious tear still managed to escape and roll slowly down his cheek.

"If perhaps you'd like to come with me?" finished Iruka evenly, congratulating himself for getting out the question he had been planning to ask for days, before mentally counting down in his head.

Naruto's eyes, meanwhile, had gone impossibly wide, while he also went slack jawed at the question. He merely stared at Iruka for a full minute, completely stunned. Never… never had he thought that anyone would _ever_ want to take him in, let alone give him the opportunities that Iruka was offering to him.

"Iruka-sensei…"whispered Naruto, tears falling gently down his face before-

"OF COUSRE I WILL!!!"

-he forcibly tackled his sensei, forcing him off his chair and to the ground, hugging him tightly for all he was worth, eyes closed in happiness and grinning madly into the man's green jacket.

Iruka just chuckled at his pupil's exuberance, despite the slight pain from where the back of his head had impacted heavily with the floor.

After a few moments, Naruto seemed to collect himself, drawing back and laughing nervously, rubbing the back of his head with a free hand.

"Hehehehehe…sorry; didn't mean to push so hard."

"It's perfectly alright Naruto," said Iruka, heaving himself off the floor and watching with fond annoyance as he saw that Naruto was practically bouncing in his seat with restrained excitement. Not that he could really blame him; if he were Naruto he would be pretty eager to get out of this village too.

Seeing that Iruka was perfectly fine, Naruto let loose with his barrage of questions.

"Ne, ne, Iruka-sensei, when are we going, where are we going, I mean I know _where_, but where exactly, how are we getting there, what am I going to do, what sort of people-?"

Feeling more than a little frightened at Naruto's stream of talk, Iruka was quick to try to restrain it, for fear of his own sanity; it would be bad enough on the hours long journey there.

"Naruto! That's enough. We are going back to my school, which, as you should know, is in Tokyo, and as for when we are leaving, it should be in only a couple of days. But-" he said as Naruto was just about to interrupt, doubtless with even more questions, "I've got many things to clear up first before we can leave, especially talking to the priests." He finished with a rather tired sigh at the thought.

At that, Naruto seemed to deflate, his lips beginning to form an infamous pout, normally accompanied with a huff of irritation.

And while Iruka appeared on the outside to be very calm and sure about the whole matter, inside he was far more worried than he let on. He hadn't talked with the priests (who acted as both the priests, and elders of the village) about taking Naruto out of Konoha and back with him to Tokyo. He'd been too afraid to even mention it so far. It wasn't exactly a secret that Iruka favoured Naruto, and it had gotten him into trouble at times in the past.

Iruka sighed internally; he would just have to hope to persuade them with the lure of getting Naruto out of sight and, by default, out of mind as well.

* * *

It had been decided that the both of them would go to see the priests that afternoon, so as to give Iruka more time to find the right words, and the courage, to face them. He supposed if the worst came to it, he could just steal Naruto away regardless, but, as that would throw up another whole host of problems, Iruka firmly decided that it was best to go about this properly and obtain the correct permission.

At that particular moment, Iruka was preparing the beginnings of lunch, while Naruto had gone bouncing off to 'find some fish'.

Iruka could only hope that this time, the fish that Naruto came back with were actually edible.

Iruka shook his head slightly, Naruto may have grown up a bit over the years, but he was still very recognisable as that nine-year-old little boy that Iruka had first met- the one that had almost driven him to madness with his incessant pranks and skiving off classes.

Though, after the first six months, Iruka had been forced to think that there was more than just the usual, simple problem of an unruly child.

He could still vividly remember when he saw the first glimpses of the situation Naruto was in. How, though not picked on outright, Naruto was never involved in any of the children's games, which, when the class only had about ten kids, was difficult to ignore.

It was in other small things as well, when Iruka had first gone over to the blonde's house, and seen insulting scribbles carved into his front door, or how when the local mother's would bring sweets for the class, it always ended up with Naruto never receiving any, while also being steadfastly ignored- as if he wasn't even there.

Things all came to a head in the first October he was in Konohagakure no Sato, when on the 10th there seemed to be some local festival at the shrine. Iruka hadn't paid much attention to it at first, dismissing it as not too important.

It became obvious, however, when all the streamers and lights went up that it was a big deal for the small village. After asking some of the parents after class, he had learned that it was a small, but significant celebration about the sealing of a fox demon, which had occurred on that date some years ago. While happy to divulge information about the festival, all of them had become suspiciously tight lipped when Iruka had required further about the 'Kyuubi no Youko'.

The entire class that day had been restless, and Iruka had quickly discarded his original lesson plan for something more fun, making paper lanterns and decorating streamers instead, all the children bubbling with excitement.

Except for one.

Seated in the corner, ignoring everybody else and remaining uncharacteristically silent, Naruto had simply sat there, staring emotionlessly at the ground, his normally bright blue eyes dull.

He didn't even move when Iruka told them to pack up for the day. Feeling concerned, he had approached the boy sat slumped over in the corner, and after asking why he was acting so unlike himself, Iruka had been shocked when Naruto appeared to have just…snapped.

He had abruptly stood up from his chair and just started shouting at him. Iruka couldn't remember exactly what Naruto had said, but he knew it was along the lines of "Shut up and leave me alone, why do you care? Nobody cares!"

And with that, he had just upped and left the room. The other children, who had been silent throughout Naruto's outburst, had promptly burst out into small pockets of sniggers, speaking of how it was just Naruto making a fuss again.

Worried, he had quickly dismissed his class for the day and hurried off to find the missing Naruto. Luckily, he had quite a good idea of where he had gone off to, after having to hunt after him all those months before when he had not shown up for his lessons.

He had found him well after nightfall, sitting morosely on the simple and old swing that hung from the mature Sakura tree by the river. Naruto was gently swinging himself back and forth, head bent. Iruka felt his heart break when he heard the boy sniff, obviously trying to stop the tears from flowing.

Iruka recalled approaching the boy, who had his arms twisted around the fraying ropes of the swing, while everyone else his age was off enjoying the celebration up at the shrine.

"Naruto, what are you doing down here? Surely you want to be up at the festival, rather than sitting here all by yourself," he had asked.

"They don't want me there…"mumbled Naruto, "and besides, I don't want to be there anyways either…"

Naruto gave another sniff, rubbing at his nose with the sleeve of his dirty yukata.

"Did you know sensei-" asked Naruto hesitantly, "that-that it's my birthday today?"

Iruka had looked at the little blonde boy startled, why hadn't he said anything, if being ignored on his birthday had been what was upsetting him so much?

Naruto seemed to have read the teacher's mind, "I'm not gonna cry just because people forgot it's my birthday or anything stupid like that, I'm not that pathetic! It's just" he nibbled on his lip hesitantly, "…for once, it would be nice, maybe, if well, they'd just care, even if it was just a little bit."

Iruka was silent; Naruto's voice was so soft, that the sound would have surely been blown away by the smallest of breezes.

"It happens well, a lot, and really _I don't care_! But…well, on my birthday, it all just seems to be…I just wish they'd care, just a little…" Naruto trailed off in a whisper, wet tear tracks clearly visible on his face.

"I care Naruto…" Iruka said softly. It was obvious that, despite what he said otherwise, Naruto _did_ indeed care about how the villager's treated him.

Naruto had seemed to flinch at that, before tightening his grip on the ropes and glaring in his sensei's direction.

"Don't lie! Of course you don't, no one does, so why should you be any different! And besides," added Naruto when he saw that Iruka wished to interrupt, "if you actually…liked me or anything, then you wouldn't shout and get angry at me all of the time!"

Naruto was shouting by the end, and Iruka had been once again reminded of just how loud the little boy could be.

Iruka had sighed to himself, while walking over and leaning against the trunk of the Sakura tree.

"Do you know why I get so mad when you skip class and do stupid, pointless things, Naruto?"

Naruto had merely shaken his head, bright blonde hair moving in accordance.

"It's because I know that you could do so much _better_ Naruto, and knowing how determined you can be, I know you are destined for better things than what this village seems to think about you."

Naruto had just stared, shocked completely mute by his teacher's words. It was obvious that Iruka was the first to ever say such things because he actually knew Naruto as a _person_, rather than some sort of absent comment from afar.

Eventually, Naruto had managed to summon his voice.

"Do you-do you really think so…Iruka-sensei?"

Iruka had rewarded the boy with a smile and an "of course, I wouldn't say it if it wasn't true."

That had been the first time that Iruka had been subjected to one of Naruto's forceful 'hugs'.

"Oh, and Naruto? Happy birthday."

Which had promptly been followed by his second.

From that day on, Naruto would frequently visit Iruka at his house, at various times of the day. He had also stopped bailing out on classes, though it seemed that not even Iruka could remove the boy's mischievous streak, perhaps only time would do it.

Iruka, mostly to give the dangerously bored child something to do, had started to give him extra lessons, which, admittedly, at first Iruka thought even to himself was probably a bad idea, doomed from the start.

Yet, quite astonishingly, Naruto had not only _not_ complained about it, but also had worked hard in all of the subjects (sort of- handing homework on time was always a bit of a struggle when it came to Naruto), which had continued right up until today.

Which, Iruka thought to himself, as he started to make the onigiri, also brought him to the problem with the priests.

Naruto, to this day, didn't know why the entire village seemed to resent him so, even though Iruka was sure that he harboured quite a few, perhaps rather accurate guesses as to the fact.

What Naruto didn't know though, was that on that very evening that Iruka had found Naruto on the swing by the Sakura tree, Iruka had gone to speak with the priests of the shrine, demanding to know what the whole big problem with Naruto was.

The answers he had left with had been slightly unsettling, in more ways than one, but to Iruka at least, Naruto was Naruto, and being the vessel for a nine-tailed fox wasn't going to change that anytime soon.

He had decided, for the best he had told himself often, that withholding the information from Naruto was the best idea; surely being told he contained a demon of all things wouldn't exactly help his own value of himself.

Iruka was brought out of his musings as Naruto bounded back through the door, with two fish slung on a line over his back, blue eyes sparkling.

As Naruto promptly set to work gutting his prizes on the beech counter top, Iruka couldn't help but drift back to his previous thoughts.

The keepers of the shrine were unlikely to be willing to let Naruto just _go_, they did think of it as their duty to ensure the youkai remained sealed.

After all, during his life, Naruto had been included just enough to be dependant on the village, without being ostracised enough to run away, or as many thought, escape.

As a result, it would be tricky to convince the priests to give Naruto permission to leave (as they were, technically, his guardians).

Iruka shook off his worrisome thoughts as he sat down with Naruto for lunch. Naruto was practically a son (well, perhaps more of a hyperactive nephew) to him by now, he would do anything it took to take him with him when he had to leave this place, the village hidden in the leaves.

* * *

**A/N:Well, there was a lot of backstory in this, but you need it to move on. Next chapter, we have our first intro of Sasuke, and we see whether Iruka gets permission or not. Until next time, read and review!**


	2. Fateful Decisions

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto in any way.

**A/N:sigh Another quick update, what am I doing to myself? Anyway, thankyou all,for those of you who DID review, they were lovely, and I really wouldn't mind get more of them, this is the last of my pre-written chapters (so updates will be _slower_) and reviews do tend to get me to write quicker hint hint. I'm afraid that I don't really like this chapter, the writing absolutely sucks, but...well, i just can't bring myself to re-write it again. SO, this chapter, we intro Sasuke, and we'll see more of Naru-chan and Iruka! Enjoy!**

Warnings: Umm...does Sasuke count as a warning? No?. . .erm. . . Aha! The intro of the first of many perverts!

* * *

**Fateful Decisions**

The spring rains fell heavily onto the tarmac and concrete that made up the grand city of Tokyo. Falling without delay, the rain pelted the ground with great speed and force, the heavy droplets soaking everything in sight within seconds.

The overcast skies dampened the air, casting everything into shades of muted grey, and causing the day to appear much darker than it should for only mid-morning.

Traffic thronged the overcrowded streets, creating a cacophony of noise as drivers shouted and occasionally skidded on the wet roads, trying to jump the lights.

A few young girls, wearing over ambitious skirts for the time of year, shrieked as they lifted designer handbags over their heads, vainly attempting to keep their hair dry as they tottered down the side of the road in their heels.

A luxurious black Mercedes parted from the crowd, coming to a smooth halt outside one of the various lofty steel towers. The men at the door, dressed in smart green fidgeted and hastily straightened their gold-buttoned uniforms, anxiety rising high.

A man quickly hurried down the sweeping steps and onto the pavement, uncaring to the rain now drenching his silver-grey hair. He came to a stop just before the car door, waiting impatiently for the driver to open it.

The handle was pulled and the door swung open seamlessly, revealing the man hidden in the back seat.

He had ivory pale skin, set off with dark eyes and even darker hair, to the point where it almost appeared blue under certain lights. He was quite tall, and was dressed impeccably in a black suit, the folds in stiff, perfect angles.

The man slid smoothly from the leather interior, rising fluidly from his seat and showing that his grace extended past more than just his features.

As he stood, a black umbrella was immediately popped open above him, shielding him from the downpour. Not taking any notice or acknowledgement, the man focused cold dark eyes on the other standing in the rain all the way as they walked side by side up the steps and through shimmering glass doors and into the building.

"Sasuke," said the silver haired man lazily, "I didn't expect you to arrive until tomorrow."

Sasuke spared a sidelong glance to the man beside him. Kakashi was an odd man; a mask covering the entire bottom half of his face and a headband angled just so, as to cover his left eye completely. He was also prone to reading inappropriate books and was renowned in society as having the peculiar disorder where he could never be on time for anything; usually arriving hours late with the poorest of excuses.

Yes, Hatake Kakashi was indeed an odd man, if for nothing more than his strange relationship with the Uchiha family.

"I decided to be early, not that I expect you to appreciate such a gesture."

Kakashi just smiled, or at least gave the impression to at Sasuke's rebuke, unaffected.

The two moved through the marble lobby, walking swiftly to the lifts, ignoring the grand fountains on either side of them and the nervous secretary that was hesitantly trailing behind them.

"Um, Uchiha-sama, we-we did not expect you until tomorrow, I'm sorry, we must not have-have got your message-" interjected the pretty, but rather frightened young woman.

"And that it because I never sent one. Leave us," interrupted Sasuke, his voice as cold as the weather outside.

The secretary floundered for a moment, at a loss of what to do, before stuttering back a small reply of, "Oh, of course Uchiha-sama," bowing her head and backing away hurriedly back to her desk.

"Tch."

And with that, both Kakashi and Sasuke entered through lift doors, Kakashi pressing for the top floor, allowing them to shrug off their entourage as the door chimed shut.

There was silence as the elevator slowly climbed upwards, Kakashi deftly removing an offensive orange book from one of his pockets and Sasuke merely staring blankly ahead, not a single emotion betraying on his face the rising anticipation building within him.

The lift doors dinged open, and both men stepped out, Kakashi still buried in his book, lazily scanning through its pages.

In fact, it was not until both had entered the penthouse study on the top floor of the Uchiha Central Business Building, that either one of them spoke a word.

"So Kakashi," inquired Sasuke as he reclined in the comfortable leather chair behind the desk, "I see you've returned from Marrakech."

The man merely nodded to the statement, not bothering to halt in his reading.

Trying his best not to show his exasperation after knowing the man for so many years, Sasuke continued, "And was your trip successful?"

At that, Kakashi sighed mournfully, knowing that this conversation was not going to be one in which he could indulge with reading the entire way through it and so regrettably put his book back into one of his various pockets.

"Aa, I found what we've been looking for," he said, crossing his arms and leaning languidly against the wall.

Sasuke let out a slow heavy breath, and leaned back further into his chair, the anticipation turning into unadulterated excitement.

"Was there any trouble?" he asked after a few moments, his voice keeping smooth and level.

Kakashi brought a contemplative hand over his mask, "Not really, the locals had absolutely no idea what it was worth, if anything at all. We were lucky. Though…" he added hesitantly, "I did have a run in with Itachi."

Sasuke sucked in a breath, his hands forming into tight fists on the leather upholstery of the desk.

"And what did my dear aniki have to say?" he asked stiffly.

Kakashi tilted his head, "Maa…nothing much, he already knew what I was there for, he didn't seem to mind any," he paused watching Sasuke's form intently, "though he did say to say hello to his 'foolish little brother'."

At that, Sasuke's fists tightened so much that they went completely white, and the scowl twisted on Sasuke's face merely enforced the tension that had appeared between his shoulders.

"Tch, he's always like that," said Sasuke somewhat dismissively, though it was clear that he was still deeply irritated.

Kakashi observed Sasuke with a single lazy eye; he could never quite understand Sasuke's and Itachi's relationship, it was tense-mostly from Sasuke- and they mainly tried to avoid each other as much as possible, for reasons that Kakashi knew, yet could not value.

"Where did you put it once you returned?" asked Sasuke softly, slowly unclenching his hands.

"Down in the basement, along with the other one."

Sasuke nodded slowly, closing his eyes. It was good news; they could now start with the first stage.

The strain between his shoulder blades finally relaxed. Months of research and years of planning…

Kakashi observed the younger man for a few moments, before his face crinkled with a smile, though it could have been more of a smirk.

"And the best thing about this? Now you can go back to school Sasuke-kun, won't it be fun to see all your delightful little classmates again?"

It was a lucky thing that Kakashi had known the Uchiha's so long, and had been therefore able to develop a certain level of tolerance to their glares; which Kakashi was quite sure could kill unsuspecting passers by.

If the one Sasuke was sporting at the moment was anything to go by, anyway.

* * *

Naruto trailed behind Iruka slowly, dawdling so as to view the scenery better as they passed by. Konoha really was a beautiful place; fresh, green, and wonderfully ornate, the small village was also peacefully calm, with less than one hundred residents everyone knew everybody else and any and all transaction was carried out in the same calm pace as everything had always done. 

So perhaps it was no wonder that Naruto sometimes felt so out of place; his…vibrant demeanour often clashed with the laid back ambience of the village, just another difference between him and the rest of the citizens of Konohagakure no Sato.

Naruto sighed to himself, enjoying the sights and sounds of Konoha more than usual; it might be one of the last times he ever got to see the place, considering he was leaving with Iruka in merely a day or so!

If Iruka could get the elders to agree to it anyway.

He sighed to himself once again, unheard over the soft babbling of the Nakano river they were walking alongside.

Naruto chanced a glance to the man in front of him. Iruka was fidgeting with one of the various pockets on his green flack jacket, and seemed to sweating slightly.

Considering Iruka was so nervous, it was clear that his chances of leaving the village were slimmer than he had thought.

Naruto huffed to himself, and turned his head aside, he'd be damned if he let some stuffy old men ruin the chance of a lifetime for him, he'd go with Iruka no matter what they decided!

With that thought in mind, Naruto bounced up the large steps carved into the rock of the mountain almost cheerfully, sweeping past his startled sensei and up the wooden steps leading to the shrine entryway.

Just as Naruto placed his wooden sandal on the last step, a loud noise rang out from directly overhead, sending him skittering backwards and causing him to fall off the step. He thankfully managed, however, to catch himself on the one below without falling and tumbling down the entire path.

Scowling at his frazzled nerves, he looked up to see the old cowbell that hung above the shrine entrance tolling, and the younger priest, Mizuki standing underneath it, arms folded over his dark blue robe and looking disdainfully down at him, even while he threw blessed salt onto the floor.

Scowling slightly in reply and throwing off the glare with ease, Naruto went forward once again, ducking his head as he passed through the doorway and reminding himself that the bell was just to signal the afternoon prayers.

He only faltered slightly when he passed by Mizuki and the priest redirected the throw of his salt, aiming directly at Naruto instead of the floor, as if he could purge him from his presence.

"Hey, hey, hey, what's with the salt?!"

When all he got, as a reply was another face full of salt, Naruto quickly resigned himself and turned away, growling under his breath as he entered the shrine proper about "stupid priests" who "thought they were so good".

Iruka quickly hurried in after his student, nodding his head briefly to Mizuki, and striding swiftly after Naruto, intent to get the inevitable confrontation over and done with.

He quickly caught up with his errant pupil just before the sanctum doors. Seeing that Naruto was just about to slide the doors open, Iruka lunged to grab Naruto's arm and was rewarded with a startled look from the boy.

"I think it may be best for you to wait here, and for just me to speak with him, don't you agree Naruto?" he asked slightly tensely.

Seeing the taught line of his sensei's shoulders, Naruto was quick to respond.

"Uh, yeah, sure," he smiled weakly and moved back away from the paper doors, retreating all the way to the other end of the room, while still keeping the largest distance possible from the altar at the far end of the chamber, where several tapers of incense were burning away softly.

Iruka returned the smile and, with a slight intake of breath, gently slid the paper door open and stepped inside.

It was a small room; one that Iruka had had the pleasure to visit on various occasions, almost all of which involved Naruto in some way or another.

The walls, floor and ceiling, as everywhere else in Konoha, were made of dark waxed maple, the floorboards fitted together with rough edges. As a ceremonial building, tatami mats covered the floor and there was a traditional low table, and tapestries littered with kanji hung limply from the walls from small hooks.

The grandest feature of the room, however, had to be the fourth wall, directly behind the table; it, in fact, was not a wall at all, but where the room opened out directly to the outside, allowing an unobstructed view of the misty forests and one of the many small waterfalls that littered the surrounding countryside.

For Iruka though, his attention was immediately drawn to the slightly hunched figure that kneeled on the other side of the low table, silhouetted by the scenery outside.

Iruka quickly inclined his head and bowed low. A hand was flicked idly and Iruka was allowed to straighten and approach the table, kneeling uncomfortably on the hard floor himself.

"Daitoku-sama, I wish to put forth both a notice and a request," he said evenly, though his head was still inclined towards the floor.

"A notice Iruka?" asked the old man, his voice rough and low with age.

Taking that as his cue, the sensei lifted his head and nodded.

"Yes, it appears that I have been recalled by my school back in Tokyo, unfortunately this means that I can no longer stay in Konoha," he said.

The daitoku sighed wearily, his old age pronounced by the slouch of his back.

"That is indeed most unfortunate news, Iruka, without you here to teach the children, it shall be much harder to provide the youngsters with an education, but," he continued upon seeing the slight guilt appearing on the other man's face, "we managed long before you came here, in fact we were lucky you were able to stay this long at all."

The old man sighed heavily, "We shall miss you when you go, but there is nothing we can do about it, it seems. When do you go?"

"If all is well, then I leave tomorrow afternoon; it'll take several hours to reach Tokyo, perhaps even a day or two, depending on the weather."

The priest nodded, looking thoughtful, "you shall drive through the night? That can be very dangerous…"

Iruka merely nodded, "Yes, but only if one doesn't know what they are doing, or where they are going, I know the route well," he smiled lightly, "there is no need to worry about me."

The daitoku nodded in acceptance, "You said that you had a request also Iruka?"

Here Iruka paused, hopefully if he worded this right, there would be no problems, and him and Naruto could be riding out the village before tomorrow evening.

"Ah, yes. You see, I was…wondering, if possibly when I leave, that I could take along Naruto with me."

It was a small question, but it had great affect on the old priest. His hunched figure stiffened and his face seemed to close off completely, he narrowed his eyes, peering shrewdly at the sensei, just as they always seemed to do whenever Naruto was mentioned.

"And why would you think it possible for you to do such a thing? Something so dangerous?" he asked sharply.

Iruka sighed exasperatedly, "Naruto isn't dangerous! And it would be such an opportuni-"

"Of course he is! You are just blind to the fact due to your strange affection for the boy!" the daitoku breathed heavily, his chest heaving, "It is our duty to ensure that the Kyuubi no Youko never breaks free of it's shackles, and allowing that thing out of our sight will ensure just that!"

Iruka bit his tongue down harshly, in order to prevent something poisonous from spilling out of his mouth. He forcibly took several deep breaths; it would not help Naruto any to lose his temper now.

"You said yourself once, Daitoku-sama, that the seal placed on Naruto is of the highest quality a priest has ever made. There has never been any trouble with it before either," stated Iruka.

The old man scoffed at this, but thankfully remained silent.

Now, Iruka thought, for the lure.

"And besides, if I took him to Tokyo, you and the village would never have to see Naruto ever again if you didn't want to. You can't tell me that you want to keep him here…?"

"As true as that may be Iruka, it is still our responsibility if anything were to happen involving Uzumaki Naruto!"

Iruka was forced into some quick thinking.

"Well," he said slowly, staring at the mists swirling lightly behind the daitoku, "if Naruto left, would it really be your responsibility anymore? If…if I were made Naruto's guardian, then, by law, it would be my responsibility then wouldn't it?" asked Iruka, biting his lip in nervousness.

"Law's of that kind are never enforced outside the cities Iruka," said the old man promptly, an answer he had used many a time while discussing various issues with the sensei.

"But, Naruto _would_ be in the city, wouldn't he Daitoku-sama?"

The priest had nothing to say that, having something of a revelation himself. He would be throwing away all responsibility he had sworn to himself in the concern of Uzumaki Naruto, yet…. yet at the same time, the idea of removing that-that _child_ from Konoha was such an attractive thought.

He mulled the idea over in his head for several tense minutes, acutely aware of the exceptionally tense Iruka seated opposite him. Iruka really was a very sensible man, especially for his young age, and he was offering, for free, to remove the Kyuubi from their hands. Could he really, truly pass up on such an opportunity?

He sighed heavily; the choice was already made for him.

"Very well Iruka, you may take the boy," he groaned slightly, "I'm far too old to deal with these sorts of thing nowadays. I expect him gone from the village by tomorrow night."

Iruka nearly laughed out loud with relief, but managed to refrain. Instead, he kowtowed in thanks and let himself smile gratefully at the old priest.

"Arigatou Daitoku-sama, I shall truly miss Konoha very much."

The old man merely nodded tiredly, "You may go Iruka."

Iruka nodded once more, before rising from his position on the floor, staggering slightly as blood rushed back into his numb legs after sitting so uncomfortably for such a long time.

* * *

Naruto waited impatiently on the other side of the paper doors. For such flimsy things, they certainly were surprisingly soundproof. Without being able to hear the conversation taking place, however, Naruto had quickly grown bored with waiting. 

He glanced about himself, arms folded. This place, whenever he came here, always gave him the creeps. He wasn't entirely sure why, but it just made the fine hair on the back of his neck stand on end.

However, the worst place in the entire shrine had to be the altar at the far end of the room. He could barely bring himself to approach; it made his skin prickle unpleasantly and sometimes even caused him to have something akin to burning stomach cramps.

He glared at the altar out of the corner of his eye, before shivering slightly and turning to face away from it.

His attention was caught by the small Mejiro bird that flitted about it in its small cage that hung from the ceiling near the doorway.

Naruto approached the little bird leisurely, peering through the thin cage bars at the soft green plumage. The little thing hopped to and fro, up and down on it's small swinging wooden perch, hung by bent wires.

Naruto felt an inordinate sadness as he watched the bird, feeling a great sorrow at its confinement. He had to struggle to push down the urge to unlatch the delicate door and let the bird fly free.

In his opinion, nothing should have to live in a cage, no matter what it was, a Mejiro bird or not.

Naruto sighed and turned away, biting his lip and hopping impatiently, wasn't Iruka done yet? Surely it couldn't take _that_ long.

As if reading his thoughts, the door suddenly slid open revealing Iruka, who Naruto was excited to see was smiling.

Naruto rushed to meet him as he steeped through into the room.

"Ne, ne, Iruka-sensei, what did he say, I can go right?" he asked hopefully.

Iruka merely smiled at his blonde haired student, "Yes, Naruto, you have permission to leave the village."

"YES!" shouted Naruto, his grin covering more than half his face.

Iruka couldn't help but laugh slightly at Naruto's antics as he practically bounced out of the shrine, the blonde even ignoring it when Mizuki took the opportunity to throw another handful of sanctified salt at him.

Naruto couldn't help but notice it however, as he left the shrine when the entire bag of salt collided with the back of his head, sending him sprawling to the ground and into the dirt, salt grains mixing into his already messy hair.

Spitting out a mouthful of soil and rubbing the back of his head gingerly, Naruto quickly pulled himself up, spinning around to glare at the disappearing form of Mizuki. That man was always a complete and utter bastard!

Naruto was disturbed from his cursing as he saw Iruka bound down the last steps.

"Naruto! Are you all right? You fell quite a way there…?" he asked, concern filling his brown eyes and laying a warm hand on his shoulder.

But Naruto only laughed nervously, smiling a little.

"Aa, I'm fine Iruka-sensei! It'll take more than that to hurt _me_! Anyway, shouldn't we celebrate, I mean, we are gonna be leaving tomorrow!"

Iruka continued to look worried for a moment or two before his expression softened.

"Hai, we're leaving tomorrow afternoon."

Naruto suddenly stopped walking, causing Iruka to bump into his back at the unexpected action.

"Naruto…?" he asked hesitantly, worried that perhaps he had taken the fall a little to hard, and that the shock was only just now catching up to him.

Naruto spun around, his eyes wide, "Crap! I've gotta go pack!" he yelled, before, without anymore warning, shot off down the path, a soft 'clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack' echoing in the distance as Naruto made his way back across the bridge to his home.

Iruka just sighed to himself. Hopefully Naruto would calm down a bit on the journey there.

…

It wasn't likely, but he could hope right?

* * *

**A/N:See? Not exactly fantastic, but Naruto is on his way to Sas- I mean to Tokyo...yes shifty eyes. Hem, Anyway! Even more mysterious introduction of a plot! What is it that Sasuke is exactly doing? Kukukukukuku, we'll just have to wait and see won't we? Feedback on the chapter would be _greatly_ appreciated, as well as news of if people _want_ me to continue this story, so please, please, pretty please review?**

**Daitoku-means 'virtuous priest' in Japanese, or at least that's what the translator tells me :P**

**Mejiro- the Japanese version of the White-eye, a small bird that was often used in the past as a cage bird.**

**Well, next chapter Naruto arrives in Tokyo, we see more of Sasuke, and Naruto starts school and we introduce many more characters, sounds like fun, ne? **


	3. Tokyo

Disclaimer:I do not own Naruto in any way.

**A/N: Woo, another quick update! And this is a long chapter too. I'm afraid that this chapter may not be quite so interesting, mostly dealing with Naruto in Tokyo and his eactions to it, but it is necsesary to the story, and there is foreshadowing in places here. And this chapter sets up the next wonderfully for some high school fun! And never fear, Sasuke will make a return next chapter, as well as a whole host of other people.**

**And thankyou so very much for the reviews, they mean a lot to me (keep reviewing and you'll get fast updates like this, which you'll want, coz everything is about to get veeerrrrrrrryy interesting...kukukukukuku).**

Warnings: Some swearing, and probably a bit of boredom, but hey, all for the story right?

* * *

**Tokyo**

Naruto had held many thoughts about what Tokyo was like, particularly from his youth. He, like most children living in the countryside, had spent many an hour of his childhood fantasising about the Great Cities of Japan; Yokohama, Nagoya, Osaka and, of course, Tokyo, the largest of them all. Very few people that Naruto knew had ever visited, and rumours were far more abundant than accurate information.

Subsequently, as a child, Naruto had often held the Cities as near magical places, where literally anything could happen, where dreams were possible. When Iruka had come to Konoha, along with his odd technological trinkets, Naruto's enthusiasm had merely been further inflamed.

Of course now, at over sixteen years of age, Naruto no longer believed that the people who lived in the cities possessed green skin, that it would snow all year round or that blonde-haired children were considered a delicacy.

He liked to think he was just a bit more rational thank you very much, no matter what Iruka-sensei thought about his maturity. But still regardless, the image of stirring mystery that the thought of the Cities conjured up within his mind stubbornly remained.

So, as it happened, when Naruto caught his first glimpse of Tokyo as they approached in Iruka's battered jeep on the high road, he could not restrain his gasp, nor repress his swelling feelings of awe.

Around them, the rolling flat plains of grass had suddenly given way, sharply contrasting with a towering skyline, large structures that he had only ever seen in Iruka's guidebook that he had surreptitiously stolen when he was twelve. As they got closer, the roads also became wider and far more crowded, filling up rapidly with other vehicles; Naruto had nearly given himself whiplash in order to follow the high speed as he saw his first motorbike rush past them.

When they had finally entered the city, he had been so overwhelmed by the sheer amount of…enclosed space; that he had sunk down into his seat beside Iruka, wide eyes swivelling to every new sight reachable through the car windscreen.

Suffice to say, Tokyo, the largest city of Japan, was far beyond what he had ever thought, or possibly imagined. The shine of large quantities of steel and glass, smooth roads covered in dark grey asphalt. Traffic lights, shops, restaurants, noise, people, dirt, lights, the odd patch of greenery, cars, yells, completely different; clothes, materials, society, rules…everything.

It was simply…wonderful.

Naruto continued to watch intently as they passed through the central business district, characterised by the tallest buildings; the skyscrapers that had dominated the pictures from Iruka's worn, tattered guidebook.

It took several hours to make their way through the thick traffic, but finally, in the early afternoon, Iruka turned off the main roads, making several turns, muttering unintelligibly to himself. After another half an hour of Iruka getting increasingly frustrated, the man finally sighed with relief as he remembered where his apartment was, and was able to recognise the local area.

After several failed attempts at parking, which had led Iruka to stutter quite amusingly about 'being out of practice', the rumbling engine of the jeep at last came to a soft, steady stop.

Naruto climbed cautiously out of the car, stumbling slightly from sitting for far too long in the cramped passenger's seat. A quick glance showed that Iruka was busying himself in the boot with their luggage, so Naruto took the opportunity to look around.

The buildings here were quite high, they ought to have at least three floors. At this particular place, the streets were arranged in a large square, with an area in the middle acting something like a common, surrounded by iron railings.

The island of greenery in a so far very urban place, Naruto suspected, was quite a commodity; Iruka really did have a nice location for his apartment.

Naruto jumped and spun around as he heard a crashing noise sound directly behind him. Upon witnessing the scene, however, he sniggered slightly at Iruka's sheepish expression. It seemed that his sensei might need a little help taking things up, considering he had dropped the box, which had once housed his supply kit.

Naruto walked over and jerked a couple of bags from the back of the jeep, still grinning slightly at his teacher's expense.

"So," he asked brightly, "which door am I going to?"

* * *

Iruka's apartment, Naruto decided, was not quite as enthralling as the glimpses of Tokyo he had received while they were driving through it that morning. As a consequence of not being lived in for about seven years, the place had become rather bare and…rather dusty as well.

However, there was still plenty for him to investigate. For example, Naruto was itching to try out the television in the corner of the living room. Iruka had explained many things about the everyday way of life in the cities, but he had never actually properly seen any of them before, and they were far more interesting in real life than in bland descriptions given by his teacher.

The furniture was delightfully different too, and he had promptly tested out the conformability of the couch as soon as he had discovered it upon walking into the room. That was another thing; so many different rooms, the most they had back in Konoha was three at best. This place had a living room, a bathroom, two bedrooms, and a kitchen.

Ah yes, the kitchen, by far the most interesting place in the whole apartment. White tiles and full of appliances, Naruto was dying to watch Iruka actually cook in it.

Otherwise, however, Iruka's home was…a bit bland really. But it was most decidedly comfortable enough, and oddly…homey. Though the best thing by far had to be the large windows at the front of the living room that faced down onto the street; two floors up it gave a fantastic view.

Naruto looked up as Iruka shuffled into the room, carrying a slightly dented tray with two cups of still steaming tea.

Placing it on the low coffee table and sitting down on the sofa next to Naruto with a grateful sigh, Iruka closed his eyes in satisfaction; it was good to be home, especially with all the modern comforts he had missed, running hot water for instance.

They both sat there quietly, sipping on their tea, lost deeply in their own thoughts for a while. Unsurprisingly it was Naruto that eventually broke the silence.

"Ne, Iruka-sensei, when am I going to start school? And," he added contemplatively, "where actually is it? And, um, where is _this_?"

Iruka chuckled a little before replying, "Well Naruto, where we're living now is a little ways outside the main centre of Tokyo, well, alright, quite a bit away from the centre," he added hastily.

Iruka took another drink of his tea, leaning back gratefully into the rather comfy couch.

"And Shichiyou High school is situated in the centre of town, so it can be a bit of a hassle to get to in the mornings, what with the rush hour and all the commuter traffic, so I'm afraid you have to get up a bit earlier to make it in time."

Naruto simply nodded at this, though he could only guess what Iruka meant in his last sentence about 'rush hour' or 'commuter traffic', apart from the getting up early part.

"Oh," added Iruka, "and you'll be starting there on Monday."

Naruto raised his head, blue eyes glittering with alarm.

"What?! But _tomorrow_ is Monday!" yelled Naruto, surely they couldn't expect him to be ready to start attending school tomorrow?!

Could they?

Iruka looked faintly surprised for a moment before relaxing once again, "Oh, don't worry Naruto, I didn't mean tomorrow, I meant next Monday. That should give us some time to get settled in don't you think, and to get you ready."

Naruto could only sigh deeply with relief and take another gulp of his tea.

Iruka gripped his teacup in his hands tightly, savouring the warmth that spread through his fingers. He observed his student and hummed contemplatively.

"Well, lets think about this, I can go pick up your new uniform tomorrow, but then you still need new clothes for when you're not in school…I'm sure you've realised fashion here is a little bit different from Konoha?" he asked with a rueful smile.

Naruto laughed softly, nodding his head slightly, "Yeah, I noticed, they don't wear yukatas and stuff, it's a bit weird. But then again, I guess they'd probably think I'm kind of weird as well, right Iruka-sensei?"

"Aa. You are defiantly a strange person Naruto-kun."

"Hey!"

Iruka laughed softly into his tea, letting his smile slowly fade as he placed his cup back on the tray.

"That's not all you need though. Supplies; pens, paper, books, bags, not to mention other things. You'll probably even need a cell phone," Iruka continued worriedly, "not just to fit in, but also in case I need to contact you, I mean the city is so big, and you can easily get lost and what if you need to call me, but I can't find you or something really bad happens and I need to know where you are or-"

"Iruka!"

Iruka jolted out of his troubled ramblings, slightly shocked at Naruto's shout, and how the boy had suddenly appeared right in his line of vision so abruptly.

"You need to calm down, you don't need to worry about me so much, I'll be fine," he said earnestly.

Iruka shook his head a little, before sighing and wearily collapsing against the back of the sofa.

"I know I worry to much sometimes…" Naruto smiled at that; at least the man admitted it, "but people-especially teenagers- can be very cruel, especially to someone or something they see as different. You don't know anything about life here Naruto, and it can be ridiculously easy to get on the wrong side of someone," he sighed again, "I just don't want anything to happen to you, especially as it would be my fault, do you understand?"

Naruto looked at his sensei in the eye seriously. He knew exactly what Iruka meant, he had dealt with a lot of that his entire life and he could take much better care of himself than Iruka thought, but, then again, it was in the man's nature to worry, so Naruto couldn't really hold it against him. Iruka was far too important to him.

"It'll be alright Iruka-sensei, you don't have to worry about me, I won't let anybody hold me down, I'm Uzumaki Naruto, remember?" he said softly.

Iruka smiled faintly, "Aa, I remember Naruto."

"Good!" Naruto suddenly exclaimed, back to his usual volume, "Now you can go back to telling me about school and stuff! And what's a cell phone anyway?" he asked in a puzzled voice, head tilted to the side questioningly "You've never mentioned those before…"

Iruka simply laughed.

* * *

The door to Iruka's flat banged open, and a blonde, slightly short teenager, staggered inside. The boy seemed exhausted and as he flung himself onto the sofa, he gratefully let the multitude of bags that had been lined up all along his arms drop to the floor with a slight crinkle of plastic.

Naruto groaned and shifted slightly in his position, vainly attempting to get comfortable. He gingerly rubbed at the sore indentations on his hands where the bag straps had cut into the skin and relaxed his back into the cushions.

Sighing, he absently blew an errant lock of golden hair out of his eye and peered wearily at the pile of purchases piled up around his feet. An array of bright colours and flashy logo's stared back at him.

Sighing once again, Naruto contemplated how just merely going shopping had got him so flustered.

Yes, flustered, the great Uzumaki Naruto.

Shopping had, simply put, been perhaps one of the most bewildering experiences Naruto had had in his entire life.

It wasn't as if he had never seen or been to a shop before, he wasn't that backward! But, it had certainly been a different occurrence to any of the shops Iruka had ever taken him to before.

First of all, it had been an achievement just to not get lost or swept away by the tide of people swarming the pavement. It had been a main high street they had visited, and Naruto was quite sure that the experience, as a whole, was highly traumatising.

Then, the automatic doors had been a bit of a surprise as well, one made even worse when Iuka-sensei had then very cruelly proceeded to laugh at him; Naruto pouted in remembrance of it, he could still recall the strange looks a nearby cluster of girls had sent him when he had stopped dead in shock as the glass doors had opened by themselves.

Buying materials for school hadn't been so bad, it was pretty universal after all, and he'd used most of it before, even the calculator, so no nasty surprises. No, that hadn't been a problem. Clothes shopping, on the other hand had been comparatively unbearable.

As a note, Naruto was _not_ a girl, so his patience was limited when it came to such things in the first place, which had only added to his frustration. But unfortunately, at the same time, he really didn't want to look like an idiot (it was bad enough that he had 'borrowed' some of Iruka's ill fitting clothes for the time being, and getting weird looks for that as well).

Casting surreptitious glances at what everyone else was wearing, and trying to make some conclusion on what he ought to wear himself, Naruto had been startled when some…girl, all wide smiles and makeup, had suddenly just…appeared and had tehn brightly asked if he needed any help.

It had been the start of some of the longest hours of his life, and he had had to only choose a handful of his 'selection' that would look 'fabulous' on him. Naruto had been still a little dazed by the amount of glitter on her eyelids, and so was not paying that much attention at the time, but that's what he thought the woman had said anyway.

Suffice to say, he was immensely relieved to get away.

After that, Iruka, perhaps taking pity on his poor student, had then proceeded to escort him to yet another shop, though this one was thankfully devoid of clothing.

Reminded of his subsequent purchase, Naruto snapped back to the present and started routing through the crowd of bags on the floor, finally snagging one of the smaller ones in success. He promptly ripped the box inside open, letting the several impressive looking pieces of technology tumble into his lap. A cell phone, once Iruka had explained it, was definitely the best purchase of the day, and, in Naruto's opinion, by far the most useful.

However, it did lead him back to the worst part of the entire trip; how terrifyingly expensive everything was. Back in Konoha, Naruto had had a meagre allowance provided by the priests on which to live, and as a result, he was left practically penniless.

And teachers didn't get paid that much either.

Naruto might be able to go to Shichiyou High School because of a scholarship, only received from backing by Iruka-sensei, but the man surely couldn't afford all this!

The subsequent guilt had plagued him all day, rising steadily with every clean glass door they went through. When Naruto had finally brought up the courage to mention the fact to Iruka on the way home, the man had simply waved off his concerns, saying he had 'saved up' from his time in Konoha, when he had been funded by the school itself, and that it was a one time thing, to completely outfit him for city life.

It hadn't really made Naruto feel any better, or relieved any of the guilt, but he knew that Iruka would never let him broach the subject again, so he decided to try to forget about it.

Not that he ever would of course.

Naruto gave a final sigh as Iruka finally joined him up in the flat, pushing the door shut with loud click.

He had less than a week before he joined classes; he had better bring himself up to scratch.

Dinner was a quiet affair that night. Iruka had procured some reading material, and was completely absorbed, his eyes locked on the paper and a slight frown appearing between his eyes, which deepened as he continued to read.

Naruto meanwhile, was busy pushing the remnants of his Soba noodles around his plate listlessly, waiting absently for Iruka to finish, thoughts swirling about in his head.

This went on for several lengthy minutes, until Iruka finally finished his reading, folding up the papers with a tired sigh before setting them gently aside.

Naruto glanced up from his bowl, feeling anxious. Iruka had that look in his eye, the one that was usually followed by one of his infamous lectures, but Naruto couldn't think of anything that he could have possibly done to warrant one at this point in time.

"Naruto," said Iruka, Naruto winced slightly in his seat, "we have one week until we both go back to school, even though I'll still be popping into school a few times briefly in the next few days to sort some things out."

Naruto nodded silently, hoping this would be a talk of warning, not of admonishment, while vaguely wondering what possible 'things' that his sensei was alluding to.

"Now, I believe that your schoolwork should be up to par with anyone else, so no need to get worked up over that, eh?"

Naruto carefully noticed that Iruka seemed to be more of giving _himself_ a pep talk, rather than actually speaking to him. Naruto had to bite his lip to prevent from smiling; Iruka could be strangely amusing sometimes.

"Right, so on Monday, you'll go in in the morning, before everybody else, and you'll be assigned your form room, locker, timetable, those sort of things. There won't be time to show you around though," Iruka looked slightly pained, "but I'm sure your classmates will point you in the right direction, oh and of course you'll need books and everything, I'll have to ask someone for them, but don't worry, everything will be absolutely fine."

Naruto just continued to gaze bemusedly at his sensei as Iruka nodded to himself several times, before simply abruptly striding out of the kitchen, bringing an end to their conversation.

The man was obviously heavily preoccupied, and it was not simply about going back to work either, that was easy to tell.

Naruto cast a curious glance at the folded papers that Iruka had left on the side table.

What had been in them to make Iruka-sensei so distracted?

Unfortunately, Naruto was unable to find out, as Iruka made a quick reappearance, grabbed the papers off of the table and just as quickly left again.

* * *

Naruto had often prided himself in the past as being rather strong in facing his fears, like that time when that absolutely huge and ferocious spider decided to live in his teakettle when he was five, and he had to remove it all by himself, after the boy from next door had spent a good half an hour or so telling him about all the poisonous attributes of the various arachnids- he had never liked that boy very much.

Or, when Iruka had caught him doing something he really ought not to be doing, like the time when he had vandalised the entire shrine in graffiti- that had been a fun one.

However, those times suddenly didn't quite seem so scary anymore. He was in fact, _quite_ sure that this was the most nervous he had ever been. Ever.

Naruto stood awkwardly in front of the mirror that hung on the inside of his door of the small room that belonged to him at Iruka's flat. It was early on Monday morning, and after a full week of waiting and trying to get amalgamated to the City, he was finally facing his first day at his new school.

He really shouldn't be quite so nervous, he vainly thought. Loads of kids had to go to new schools all the time, so why the hell did he think it was so bad for him? And anyway, this wasn't a bad thing in the first place; it was an opportunity.

Naruto eyed himself critically in the mirror, brows furrowed as he observed his appearance. It wasn't bad, but it was definitely…different.

He was dressed in the Shichiyou official school uniform; it was new and stiff, and full of buttons and zips, which were all faintly unfamiliar. It was dark, black all the way down, with a rim of white only appearing when his shirt continued where his blazer didn't.

Naruto shifted slightly, and ran a hand through his golden hair, uncaring to the mess it caused in its wake. He had gotten used to wearing 'City clothes' fine enough over the past few days, but this uniform seemed particularly…constricting.

Or was it just because it was his first day, and the nerves were getting to him again?

Naruto sighed harshly and gave only another brief glance to reflection before pulling open the door, snagging his bag from the cahir on the way out.

Iruka was munching on the last remains of his breakfast when he came out, standing by the sink in the kitchen.

"Not having breakfast Naruto?" he asked, feeling slightly amused despite himself.

Naruto merely shook his head mutely, and waited somewhat impatiently by the front door for Iruka to be ready to leave, fidgeting with the strap on his bag.

Five minutes later, Naruto was slinging himself into Iruka's rather battered car, staring out the window and tapping on the dashboard with a couple of his fingers, while his left hand curled itself around the armrest.

The ride was mostly conducted in silence, interspersed with some fleeting glances from Iruka and with Naruto refusing to break his gaze as he stared unblinkingly out the window.

They turned down onto the final road and Naruto could make out a large building, accompanied by more steel and glass, with a large elevated sign proclaiming it as 'Shichiyou High School-Tokyo' in clear, concise lettering.

Naruto felt something squirm unpleasantly in his stomach. The writhing merely intensified as he saw a couple of early students, dressed in the same uniform as he, walk up to the gates and vanish inside.

Naruto was not going to delude himself; he knew why he was so unreasonably nervous. It wasn't the school; it would be all the other people attending there. In Konoha, he had been shunned away from all the children his own age, he…he hadn't ever really had a proper friend before.

Not that it mattered! He wasn't so weak as to start crying over that!

But…still, this was a new place, where there was no previous impressions, or preconceived notions.

Though now that he was here, what was he supposed to do!? He had never been in this kind of situation before, in his old class, there had only been about ten of them at most, this place would have hundreds, he didn't know anyone, was there something he was supposed to do, or say, or…. something!

He had been feeling increasingly overwhelmed and subdued ever since he arrived here in Tokyo, and now that bloody sign was bringing all these feeling to a head and-

"Naruto!"

"Huh?" he asked dazedly, head swivelling towards Iruka. He suddenly noticed that they were stationed in the parking lot, and that the engine had been switched off.

Iruka peered at him with concerned eyes, "Naruto are you alright, I called your name three times?"

Naruto gulped, throat feeling strangely dry.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," he said weakly.

Iruka didn't look convinced. After a few moments silently regarding him, he leaned over from the driver's seat, and put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Naruto, I know you're nervous about everything, it can be very daunting coming to a new place where you don't know anyone, but just be yourself, and I'm sure things will turn out fine," he paused, staring Naruto in the eye, "You're Uzumaki Naruto after all, aren't you?"

Naruto felt the twisting of his stomach recede a bit, and he nodded, feeling a slight smile break through his worry. Iruka-sensei was right; he had nothing to be afraid of or nervous about.

Feeling much better, Naruto pulled open the door and swung himself out of the car.

It was only school, how bad could it be?

* * *

**A/N:I know, I know! Not the most exciting chapter in the world, I'll make it up to you in the future, with lovely sasunaru action okay?Besides, it was a good place to stop for my sanity. Next chapter much more fun! Sasuke, Kakashi, Sakura, Hinata, Kiba, Gaara, Lee and everyone else!! **

**Soba noodles-their, well, um, noodles really. **

**Shichiyou-are the seven luminaries, i thought it was fun name that i had swinging about.**

**Anyway, if you have any secondary pairings that you would like to see, please inform me, especially if you want Iruka and Kakashi stuff or relationships in the school, as I'm rather flexible on the issue. **

**So, even though it was a boring chapter, please review, tell me what you like, hate, anything, and don't forget to name a pairing you want:)**


	4. Shichiyou

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

A/N:Hey, thanks for all of your reviews, i've decided that this will contain KakaIru, but it won't get graphic (i leave that to Sasuke and Naruto :P). Anyway, I'm not sure i like this chapter, at all, but i just can't do anymore with it, so forgive me if it sucks. Also, these next few chapters will have the msot school in them, future chapters will revolve around other topics. Read, enjoy, review!

Warnings: Swearing, bastards and fangirls.

* * *

**Shichiyou**

The sun continued its steady journey through the open window. The streaming sunlight warmed his back as he sat rigid on a tatami mat, eyes closed and hands folded gently in his lap, inhaling the sweet incense drifting lazily around the room.

Breathing softly, his thoughts introspective, Sasuke was very much unaware of the passing of time.

He had been meditating like this, without fail, every morning since he was a small child, all in the tiring search for his own elusive strength, hidden down deep inside of him.

A pale brow wrinkled slightly as the thought drifted across his otherwise blank mind, his own power had always been a great source of irritation to him; while he had gained much prowess from his own special training, his true potential still remained frustratingly out of reach, no matter how much 'searching' for it that Sasuke embarked upon.

The frown deepened a little further, before it was purposefully smoothed over.

Meditation was not the time to think over such things, no matter the frustration. For, even if he could not fully access his own power through it, the exercise always did manage to calm him down, removing some of the large amounts of stress and tension that Sasuke seemed to just pick up during the day before.

He let his mind drift further away from reality, losing himself in the images that flickered behind his eyes, letting them slip away just as easily.

'Knock-knock!'

Dark eyes snapping wide, Sasuke let out a long, drawn out sigh, reluctantly raising himself up from the floor, letting his back click satisfyingly.

It appeared that it was time for him to return to school.

Oh joy.

* * *

It was eight thirty in the morning, and Naruto was quite sure that this day was going to be one of the longest of his life.

After having been passed from office to office, and then being shepherded back over to reception, having a pile of god-knows-what shoved into his arms, he was then promptly shoved out the room in what was hopefully the correct hallway over half an hour later.

A hallway, which was far more crowded than it had been when he had first walked down it, earlier that morning, Iruka by his side.

Swallowing slightly, the blonde hugged the bundle of books, papers, and other paraphernalia closer to his chest and set about weaving his way through the throng of people, repeating his locker number under his breath as he went.

Slumping against the metal frame of the lockers that lined the entire length of both sides, as he finally found his own, he yanked open the flimsy door and let everything in his arms tumble in, completely uncaring to the disorganised mess that it caused.

Naruto paused briefly, indecision flashing through blue eyes for a moment, before he started to dig around for the piece of paper with his timetable on it.

Once found, however, it merely raised another whole slew of questions. Right, after meeting his class, he had Japanese Literature, followed by… Biology.

Ok…now what books were for what subject?!

Groaning lowly so no one else could hear him, Naruto, using the door of his locker as something of a makeshift shield, buried his head further over his pile of textbooks, peering through the titles.

It wasn't long till he was distracted from his task by a couple of girls that were stationed just on the other side of the corridor. Still frantically searching for his correct materials, he couldn't help but listen in to their conversation, loud as it was.

Haruno Sakura was not a happy seventeen-year-old. Her entire morning had been full of those nasty, frustrating little details; like the fact that her hair profusely refused to lie flat, that she had had to skip breakfast because she woke up late and now that she couldn't find her stupid homework planner!

She made a noise of aggravation in the back of her throat, and proceeded to practically rip her bag apart in order to find the missing journal.

She was so engrossed in her search that she jumped when she felt someone suddenly hug her from behind.

Smelling the distinctive scent of lilies, Sakura gave a tired sigh, recognising her attacker instantly.

"Ino! You shouldn't sneak up on people like that!"

Ino, a girl with long pale blond hair and silver earrings dangling from her ears, merely laughed in response, releasing Sakura and sidling up beside her to lean casually against the lockers, a smug look on her face.

Finally giving up on finding her errant planner, Sakura turned to face Ino, irritation rising on seeing the other's superior expression.

After waiting for several moments, Sakura's patience snapped.

"So?! What is it? You only ever have that look when you have something juicy to say, so spill! It's not like you to come find me before form period- it must be _good_."

Ino surveyed her pink haired friend with her own, slightly bland, turquoise eyes. She really wanted to make Sakura wait a bit more, to get her really worked up, but, sadly, she just had to tell someone!

As if a dam had been broken, Ino began to speak at break neck speed, her voice and expression turning from disinterested to energized within seconds.

"You'll never guess who's coming back to school today!" without waiting for the unnecessary reply, Ino ploughed on, "It's Sasuke-kun! He's finally coming back!"

Sakura gaped very much like a fish for a moment or two, eyes alight with excitement, before she managed to recover herself, clearing her throat and steadfastly attempting to keep her tone and expression light.

"Ah-Why should I care about that Ino? I mean, I know you still haven't gotten over _your_ crush for him yet, but I have, ages ago, so-so why should _I_ care if he's back or not, I'll see him class anyway."

She desperately attempted to busy herself with locating her planner again.

Ino wasn't fooled for a moment; instead she was smirking rather viciously.

"Oh? So what's that blush doing on your cheeks then, bill-board brow? Don't think you can convince me, I know that you want Sasuke-kun just as much as I do, so do everyone a favour and just admit it."

Blushing even further at Ino's words, she stuttered for a moment before letting the façade drop, huffing angrily in the blonde's direction.

"Okay, so what if I _do_ care if Sasuke-kun is back in school," she snapped, "but who wouldn't? I mean, no one even knows why he stopped coming in the first place, he must have been really, really sick or something- he never misses school! Not even that time when he had had the flu, do you remember? The poor guy was practically passed out in his chair and he still handed in all his work…"

As Sakura trailed off in memory, Ino glanced about the hallway, her other piece of gossip just waiting to be loosened from her tongue. Though not as interesting as Sasuke-kun coming back to Shichiyou High school, she still had to tell Sakura, what sort of girl would she be if she didn't?

"Hey Sakura," she asked quietly, "have you heard the other news going round Shichiyou this morning?"

Sakura just shook her head, feeling slightly annoyed that Ino just seemed to know _everything _today.

Ino grinned predatorily.

"Well," she said lowly, "I heard that a new student is starting today, you know, that _scholarship_ student of Iruka's."

Sakura gasped, her mind instantly ripping into the new subject.

"Really?! I thought that was just a rumour, I didn't know that it was actually true!" she squealed.

Ino nodded seriously.

"Yeah, and know what else? Well, some people are saying that he came back with Iruka-sensei, you know, from that country village he's been staying in all this time."

Sakura's green eyes went wide, jaw falling open.

"No way! You mean this new student, he's from the…country?!" she said in a whisper of hushed anticipation.

"Aa." Was the affirmative reply.

Sakura started to giggle slightly behind one of her hands, eyes dancing with enjoyment.

"So it's a _country_ boy then?" she snorted into her palm, "Well that's…um…_interesting_."

She could no longer hold back her giggles and gave a snort of laughter that Ino was quick to hush up.

"Hey, be quiet will you? Anyway, yeah he's from the country, and it _is_ a boy."

Ino appeared contemplative for a moment.

"Hey, do you think he's hot?"

"Ino!" reprimanded Sakura in a loud whisper. This time it was Ino that descended into laughter.

"Oh come on Sakura, he may be from the countryside, but that won't stop him from being hot. Maybe he might even be a rival to Sasuke-kun…" she added mock thoughtfully.

Sakura shook her head, pink hair swaying with the movement.

"As if anyone could be cuter than Sasuke-kun, the new guy is probably not even good-looking at all. I mean, _I_ don't care just because he's not from the city or anything-I haven't met him yet, but well, all the people I've seen from there weren't that attractive, though it could have been all the _dirt_ I guess…" Sakura trailed off again, only to be interrupted by the warning bell going off directly above her head.

Wincing, Sakura quickly picked up her own bag, while Ino strode straight past her, heading in the other direction.

"Well, I guess we'll see won't we forehead? He's in our form class ya know!"

And with that parting shot, Ino hurried off, Sakura running to catch up with her.

"Hey, Ino! Wait up you pig!"

Both girls were quickly out of sight.

* * *

By his locker, Naruto finally found the books he thought he would need, jamming them into the bag slung over his shoulder roughly.

He sighed, wondering idly if all the people here at Shichiyou were like those two girls, before slamming the door to his locker shut.

Pushing any more thoughts out of his head, Naruto whipped out his timetable again, scanning down the columns, attempting to find the number of his form room.

'Room 218'

…

Just how big was this place?!

With a moan of complete and utter despair, Naruto resigned himself to his fate of becoming hopelessly and tragically lost.

Perhaps, if he was _really _unlucky, they would find him months later, trapped in a supplies closet, talking with his friends; mop, bucket and rag cloth.

Accepting his horrific fortune that destiny had thrown him, Naruto set off warily down the corridor, soon to be met with several sets of stairs as he turned the corner.

Sighing weakly, he decided to just pick the closest one.

Only to find, to some miraculous revelation, that when he turned the corner at the top, he was faced with a room labelled, '218-Kurenai'.

Naruto blinked in surprise. No way was it supposed to be that easy. After a moment or so of just simply staring, he decided not to question his good luck.

Taking a deep breath, Naruto slowly pushed the door open, stepping tentatively inside.

He blinked again; there still wasn't a lot of people present, only a few dotted about the room.

Though, he noticed, they all turned to glance at him as he entered the room.

There were several long moments of silence.

…

Still, no one said anything, just stared.

Really uncomfortable, and slightly freaked out, Naruto was just about to move to find a seat when something heavy, and travelling at high speed connected with him.

"Shit, I'm here, I'm here!"

Wheezing slightly as whatever hit him fell on top of him, and knocking all air from his lungs, Naruto tried to look over his shoulder, squashed though he was against the floor.

The large weight resting on him quickly got off.

"Dude, I'm so sorry, I totally didn't see you and-hey, I'm early!"

Pushing himself off the ground, Naruto turned to see whoever it was that had crashed into him.

The boy had wild brown hair and odd markings indenting onto his cheeks; Naruto noticed he had slightly slitted pupils. And was currently growling rather worryingly at his watch.

"Stupid piece of crap, you weren't twenty minutes fast last night…piece of shit,"

He also stopped talking, however, when he saw who he had run into, the lack of recognition on his face was plain to see.

"Eh, its okay," said Naruto somewhat nervously, hand reaching up to rub the back of his neck of its own volition.

After a couple more moments of inspection, the boy suddenly seemed to realise something; his eyes lit up with roguish delight.

"Oh hey, you're the new student aren't ya?" He put his hand out, "Well, I'm Kiba, sorry about runnin' into you and everything, my bad. This your first day, yeah?"

Blinking in slight surprise, Naruto shook the boy's surprisingly strong grip and nodded in the affirmative.

"Ah, yeah, its my first day, and I just _so_ know I'm gonna get totally lost," he then added a little uncertainly.

But Kiba just grinned, starting to bounce on the balls of his feet, the glint in his eyes becoming almost blinding.

"Oh yeah, I know what you mean, this place is kinda huge ain't it? Tell ya what, how about I show you around today? You'll definitely need a guide around Shichiyou," his voice lowered to a conspiratorial tone, "and I'm not just talking about the layout."

Feeling some of his anxiety melt away, Naruto replied with a wide grin.

"Hey, thanks a lot, oh, I haven't introduced myself! I'm Naruto by the way."

"Naruto?" asked Kiba, cocking his head to the side, reminding Naruto irresistibly of a dog, "That's a uh…weird name."

"Hey, my name is not weird!"

Grinning waywardly at the blonde in front of him, Kiba decided that he had just found a brand new companion for the day; friends were always more fun when you could rile them up all the time.

He was knocked from his thoughts when he nearly bumped into someone else entering the classroom.

"Hey, come on, no sense standing in the doorway,"

They moved to sit at one of the desks next to the windows, Kiba chatting the whole time about this and that, which teacher's were idiots and who to watch out for. They sat there for about five minutes before Kiba suddenly stood up, waving and calling someone over.

"Hey…HEY! Sakura, Ino, how come I didn't see either of you at the party over the weekend huh?"

It was the two girls from the hallway. Upon hearing Kiba's shout, they both turned from their hushed conversation to glance over to where both Naruto and Kiba were sitting.

Sakura focused her gaze on the figure beside the wild boy, green eyes lighting up when she realised that she didn't recognise him. He wasn't facing her, so all she could see was the back of his blonde head, but she definitely knew no one at school with hair quite that bright, not even Ino.

She quickly grabbed Ino's arm and pulled them both over to where the boy's were sitting.

"Sorry Kiba if we couldn't make an appearance, but, you know, some of us have better things to do than go to some stupid party where the highlight of the evening is seeing you drink an entire pack of beer and then try to moonwalk on the coffee table before passing out in the flowerbed," said Ino tauntingly.

Kiba whined in mock despair, "Awww, Ino, how can you be so cruel to me? I swear, that only happened once! Just once! And now you just won't let it go!"

Ino snorted in reply.

"Knowing you, that's probably one of the _better_ drunken stories." She said, while rolling her eyes.

There was suddenly a soft snort of laughter from the side.

"What," asked Naruto, turning around for the first time, gaze teeming with amusement, "you can't handle your drink Kiba? Che, you must be such a lightweight."

Kiba gaped in exaggerated offence.

"Huh?! Oh come on! I known you for what, ten minutes and you're already picking on me, that's so not fair!"

Naruto just laughed again.

"So, um," started Sakura, "who's this?"

"Oh! Yeah, hey Sakura, Ino, this is Naruto, Naruto, Sakura, Ino."

"Now, now Kiba, is that any way to introduce us?" asked Ino with a pout.

"Ummm…yeah, I think so."

Ignoring Ino's following snit of annoyance, Sakura used the time to discretely look over the new guy.

She had to admit, he wasn't what she had expected. Strands of golden-blonde hair flopped over his forehead to fall into eyes, which were perhaps the richest shade of blue she had ever seen. Coupled with a smooth tan complexion, and scars that-should-be-hideous-on-anyone-else yet made him look oddly cute, he was definitely a far cry from her imagination.

He wasn't even tall, she could tell even from sitting that he wouldn't be more than an inch or so taller than herself. Even more amazingly, he didn't seem to possess those thick wiry muscles that people from the country usually had, he was lithe, perhaps even a little thin in his uniform.

Along with that lazy grin adorning his features, Sakura came to the conclusion that Naruto was handsome, even if it was in a very different sort of attractiveness than Sasuke.

And he looked pretty fun too.

"Hey! I have never once worn a bra in my entire life!"

She promptly decided it was for the best to tune back into the conversation.

"Now, lets not start fighting hmm?" asked Sakura sweetly. "I'm sure we all remember what happened the last time that Kurenai-sensei caught us fighting?"

Both Kiba and Ino quickly shut up.

Sakura turned to Naruto.

"Hello, I'm Haruno Sakura and that," she said, jerking a thumb over to her blonde friend, "is Yamanaka Ino, and I officially welcome you to Shichiyou High."

Blinking a little in surprise as he saw her bow slightly, Naruto was still quick to answer the lightly smiling girl.

"Um, thanks, I'm Uzumaki Naruto."

"Well," continued Sakura, smiling a little wider, "if you ever need anything, just come to me and I'll sort you out, okay? I'm sure we'll get along great."

"Uh, yeah, sure, thanks," said Naruto, feeling a little awkward at the conversation, not entirely sure how he should be answering, or even, what exactly Sakura was offering. It certainly sounded as if there was more under her statement than what she said outright.

Kiba huffed in agitation at being ignored.

"Hey, guys, I'm still right here, and hell, so is Ino. And besides, I'll be showing him around anyway."

Sakura span around, glaring.

"Kiba, don't interrupt other people's conversations, don't you know how rude that is?"

"Yeah, well, I don't care."

That just made the tick on Sakura's face worsen and just as she was about to retort, she paused, insult resting on her tongue, as she suddenly realised how quiet it had gotten.

Feeling oddly cold, she slowly turned around. Her eyes widened in horror at the sight.

Sasuke, Sasuke-kun! Was standing right behind them, dark eyes even colder than usual as he glared, sending shivers down her spine; she felt as if she couldn't even move, almost as if she couldn't breath at all.

It took her a moment to realise that he wasn't angry at her, his gaze travelled a little too far to the left.

Managing to turn her head slightly, her mouth parting in surprise as she saw Naruto come into her line of vision.

"You're in my seat."

* * *

Sasuke silently congratulated himself as he made his way up the stairs to his form room. He had been in school a total of near forty-five minutes, and none of his annoying-as-hell admirers had managed to get a hold of him as of yet. He wasn't even sure they knew that he was in school today.

His mood dropped some however, not that it was possible to tell, when he walked silently into Room 218, and found to his extreme annoyance that some people were loitering over in _his_ area of the classroom. Even worse, he recognised two of the hair colours- Sakura and Ino.

Mentally growling in aggravation, he strode over to the idiots, the class slowly falling silent as he passed by.

A few feet away, he then saw that someone was actually _sitting_ in his space. He didn't recognise the boy, and he didn't care. That spot was the best in the classroom to avoid having to sit next to anyone, and he had claimed it at the beginning of the year. He was not about to give it up to some baka, especially when he was annoyed, frustrated and could so be doing better things right now.

He stopped just before his desk, glaring with a ferocity only reserved for those of the Uchiha clan, perfectly ready to take out his frustration on the clueless person in _his_ chair.

"You're in my seat."

His voice could have cracked ice.

Fully expecting the little thing to start sputtering apologies and hastily scamper away, he was unpleasantly surprised when it didn't.

No, instead the boy just stiffly turned to face him, allowing Sasuke to see someone whom he did not recognise as someone from this class. The boy also did not look impressed with his command.

Strange; most people could barely move at all when he was properly enraged at them, but this one did not seem to feel his glare at all.

"So? I don't see your name on it," growled out the blonde.

Everyone in the vicinity was completely silent, watching with disbelief as the new kid challenged the Uchiha.

Gritting his teeth to restrain the urge to hit the boy, Sasuke managed to spit out the word, "Move dobe, before I _make_ you."

Sakura could only watching in a sort of morbid fascination as Naruto carried on, seemingly completely unaffected by the Uchiha's ominous growing dark aura.

"Hey, what the fuck's your problem? Why are you getting all worked up over a chair for anyways?" asked Naruto scathingly.

Sasuke merely narrowed his eyes dangerously in reply "Move. _Now_."

Naruto started with a glare of his own, this guy was really, really starting to piss him off! What was his problem anyway, he didn't have to be so aggressive, for god's sake, it was a chair!

"No." said Naruto, voice lowering to show his own rising anger.

Sasuke took a step forward.

Naruto still refused to move or back up.

"Move if you know what's good for you, Usuratonkachi."

Naruto abruptly stood from his seat, blue eyes starting to literally spit fire.

"You bastard!"

Naruto noticed, with great annoyance that when standing, he still had to look up to meet the other's eyes.

As Naruto and Sasuke were locked in their glaring match, students staring, and just as it was likely to turn into an all out brawl, the door to the room banged open and a woman strode confidently inside, shocking the occupants from their little break from reality.

"I trust that there is nothing wrong, I would surely _hate_ to have people fighting in _my_ classroom." The woman said with an undertone of steel, while slamming a host of papers down on the desk.

The pupils quickly hurried to their own seats, a rush of noise following.

Sasuke merely cast Naruto another _look_, before turning his back to him and stalking off somewhere else.

"…Dude," said Kiba, sounding almost in awe, "you just royally pissed off Uchiha Sasuke, and you won! Naruto, you so totally rock!"

Sakura broke out of her daze, and gave Kiba a disgusted look, "Why don't you just admit your undying love for him, you mutt."

Looking deeply troubled, and muttering to herself in a voice that promised pain, Sakura left to sit down in the row in front, not willing to cause more of a scene with the teacher present.

Ino, however, remained where she was.

"Naruto, did you just pick a fight with Sasuke-kun?" she growled warningly.

Naruto, still feeling oddly angry about his confrontation with the Uchiha, gave her a flat look.

"Uh, yeah, yeah I did," he said.

Ino made a slightly disturbing snarling noise.

"_Naruto!"_

Naruto, annoyed with the reprimand from a girl he didn't even really know, spun around on his chair so that he could face her.

"What about it?"

Ino opened her mouth to answer, but just as quickly halted. There was…something…about that look in Naruto's eyes; the blue was overshadowed by something almost _vicious_. It was a look she had seen in Kiba occasionally, or in Sasuke when he…

No, she thought to herself with an internal shake of her head, it was best not to think about that.

Still caught in Naruto's dangerous gaze, Ino found that she suddenly couldn't find anything to say, and snapped her mouth shut, and then walked away as well, off to annoy Sakura.

Naruto sighed and relaxed into his seat. He frowned slightly as he glanced at the form of Sasuke that was seated across the room. He hadn't gotten that angry with anyone in such a long time. What was it about that guy that had made him so mad, for not much reason at all?

Though, the guy did seem to be a complete and utter bastard, as Kiba was avidly telling him from the desk over. The dark haired boy just seemed to make him…uneasy?

Huffing in annoyance, Naruto turned to face the front, deciding it would be best to just try to avoid the Uchiha as much as possible from now on.

Simple.

Little did Naruto know then, just how great that plan was going to work out.

* * *

A/N: So, thats another chapter down, next chapter will have more interaction of others characters. It should be up soon. If you have any feedback, please tell me (I know this chapter was rather cliche, but well, the rest going to be very original-i hope). 


	5. Time Flies

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

**A/N: Hey, sorry for the wait on this thing, but being back at school sucks :( Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter, even though it contains a load of talking, it's plot development, what can I say? And this is probably the most KakaIru you'll see. I think. And I know that Kakashi is somewhat OOC, but I have my reasons for that, and so does he :P Please read and review!**

Warnings: ...not much this chapter...

* * *

**Time Flies**

The children in the junior class shifted agitatedly in their seats. Chewing on the end of pencils, and attempting to glance surreptitiously at the clock, they impatiently waited for the next two minutes to be up and for the bell to ring.

A couple were still determinably scribbling on their papers, brows furrowed in concentration and the scratches of their pens echoed through the room.

The clock ticked a little closer to twelve.

A student at the back of the class furtively slipped her pencil case into her bag, moving to the edge of her chair for a clean getaway.

I mean, who sets a test for a first impression anyways?

The clock ticked one more time and the bell rang shrilly over the scuffle of chair legs scrapping over the floor.

Iruka could only sigh as his class managed to exit the room in a rush, people jostling past each other in order to leave for lunch.

It took no longer than a minute and the door was slammed shut, sending a few papers fluttering off of his desk, skittering across the floor.

Moving to collect them, Iruka couldn't help but smile slightly. As tiring as it was, teaching in such a large school as this was something he had indeed missed when he was in Konoha despite himself.

Springing surprise tests, a specialty of his, was much more satisfying on a set of new students, that held no idea of the terrifying cruelty of Umino Iruka. He couldn't wait until he took their first homework in.

Chuckling lightly to himself at the thought, he placed the errant papers on his desk, ensuring they were replaced on the correct pile.

He jerked in surprise when he heard a page turning, the sound cutting through the sudden unnatural silence.

Iruka stiffened immediately, staring straight ahead at the whiteboard, fingers gripping tightly onto the desk, not daring to turn around for fear.

He knew that sound; how could he not, after knowing him for so many years?

Swallowing with difficulty, Iruka braced himself, and slowly pivoted on the spot.

A lazy grey eye lifted momentarily at the movement, staring intently from beside the door.

"Iruka, long time no see, hmm?"

Feeling his heart twist with dread, at that moment Iruka could wish for nothing more than to be anywhere but there.

* * *

"Hey! Hey Naruto, over here!" 

A blonde head snapped up as Naruto searched the crowds for who had called him out to him. After he skimmed over a few groups of students he didn't recognise, he finally realised that is was the pink haired girl, Sakura that was shouting for him.

Well, maybe not shouting, more like yelling to be heard over the vast amount of noise that had accumulated in the lunch hall.

He quickly began to make his way over, precariously balancing his tray on his arm, deciding to let Kiba part the way and to just follow after him instead.

As they approached the table, Naruto noticed some other people sitting at the table that he hadn't met before.

There was Ino and Sakura, and another girl and a couple of guys too. As he took his seat, between Kiba and the unknown girl, Ino giggled excitedly, eager to make introductions.

"Naruto, this is Hinata," she pointed to the girl with dark hair and light lavender eyes, "and _this_ is Shikamaru," she indicated the boy who was currently slouched on the bench, carelessly poking his rice with his chopsticks and looking thoroughly uninterested as Ino enthusiastically introduced them.

Naruto nodded to both of them, a smile beginning to crack across his features.

"Heh, and I'm Uzumaki Naruto."

Shikamaru gave a small nod, while Hinata just seemed to stare at him unblinking for a few moments before blushing slightly, mumbling a "pleased to meet you Naruto-kun," in a very quiet voice.

Confused slightly at the girl's strange behaviour he decided to simply ignore it and turned to his Yakisoba, pulling his chopsticks apart with a sharp 'snap'.

Meanwhile, Kiba had engaged into another argument with Ino.

"And what does it matter if I'm failing English? It's such a stupid subject, I don't need languages anyway."

Ino opened her mouth to retort, possibly quite loudly when the mysterious boy on the end, whose collar covered his face almost completely, cut across her.

"Kiba, it would be highly profitable if you would make an effort in all of your subjects, it would be most unfortunate if you were kicked out of Shichiyou just because of your poor grades," he said in a calm voice, with little inflection at all.

"Aww, Shino," whined Kiba, "why do ya have to go and say something like that? Now I'm gonna have to actually pay attention in class!"

Ino took Kiba's assent as victory and smirked smugly form the other side of the table.

"Serves you right, ha!"

Shikamaru sighed heavily from his place next to the energetic blonde, leaning his chin on a vacant hand.

From next to him, Naruto could see Hinata prod her fingers together nervously, continuously glancing between Kiba and Ino, finishing the circuit with himself before blushing a little deeper. Was she ill or something?

"So, who are the spare seats for?" asked Kiba suddenly, jerking his head over to the end of the table where, indeed, a couple of chairs looked conspicuously empty.

"Ah, well," started Sakura, glancing fleetingly towards the clock hanging above them on the wall, "you see, I saw that Sasuke-kun hadn't had lunch yet and so-"

She didn't mange to get any further as Kiba broke out into raucous barks of laughter.

"You're really something else, aren't you Sakura?"

Sakura turned red and stood up form her chair, clenching her fists.

"What did you say?!"

Kiba's snorts of mirth died a quick death upon catching sight of the glare promising a painful and fiery retribution directed towards him.

Seeing Kiba pale so quickly, Naruto couldn't help his laughter from breaking free.

When he saw Kiba start to lean back in his seat as Sakura kept on glowering, it became outright cackling.

Kiba viciously spun around to glare at him, "What the hell do _you_ find so funny!"

"I'm so-sorry!" stuttered Naruto, not sounding entirely apologetic at all.

The potential fight was broken at Hinata's small gasp of surprise and whispered murmur.

"Neji-niisan!"

It was then that the group was made aware of the two males that had approached their table and were now sitting in the previously unoccupied chairs.

"Hinata-sama," acknowledged the one known as 'Neji', a boy who could be considered quite attractive, and with matching pale eyes to Hinata.

The other, Naruto was displeased to see, was none other than Mister-I-have-a-stick-shoved-somewhere-_really_-uncomfortable himself, sitting stoically on his seat.

He made no greeting to anyone at all.

Sakura, however, was not to be deterred.

"Oh, Sasuke-kun, I'm so glad that you could join us, I was wondering when I could speak to you!"

"Hn."

Ino wasn't about to be discouraged either.

"Ah Sasuke-kun, we haven't really seen you around in a while," she moved to drape herself over his shoulders, "so, any reason why you haven't been to school in about two months?"

Her answer was to be roughly shrugged off, and another unintelligible grunt of reply. Not that it could really be classified as grunting; it was far too refined.

"Tch," interrupted Naruto, irrationally annoyed by the other boy's presence, "you can't even reply properly, bastard. If your not going to say anything, then you shouldn't sit here."

The table was unnaturally silent; Sakura was glaring murder into Naruto's back, Hinata was prodding her fingers together desperately, and Neji was observing the scene with cool eyes, masking his surprise.

Sasuke, who had been staring rather blankly into his water, looked up to retort, his voice oddly animated.

"I can do what I like, baka."

Naruto bristled at the insult and both he and Sasuke locked gazes, something almost electrical passing between them in their distinct irritation with the other.

The rest just stared nonplussed as the two just kept staring daggers at each other for nearly a whole minute before both seemed to huff in annoyance, both turning their heads to glare off elsewhere.

The tense atmosphere was broken as Shikamaru poked at his rice again, uttering only a single word of, "Troublesome."

Kiba cracked up again, snorting as he attempted to drink his water and Neji raised an eyebrow in silent question.

Sakura was still passing bemused glances between Naruto and Sasuke occasionally but finally settled back down, folding her napkin into neat lines.

Naruto meanwhile was trying to figure out just how Sasuke managed to rile him up so much with merely his presence. It was, on reflection, almost impressive how he could singularly piss him off in such a small amount of time!

Lost in thought, Naruto let out a yelp of startled surprise when he suddenly found his vision obscured by blonde hair and silver earrings.

"Hey, Naruto, you're from the country right?"

The reaction round the table was immediate. Everyone turned not so covert eyes to Naruto, and tensed, with either curiosity or wariness. Even Sasuke appeared to be listening in from his position at the end of the table.

Naruto wasn't entirely sure what he was supposed to say.

"Uh, yeah, I am."

Ino cocked her head to the side.

"And is it true that…_that you're living with Iruka-sensei?"_

She said the last part all in one breath, the words coming out in a tumbled rush.

Naruto blinked again, not sure what was so exciting to have Ino sound as if she was about to have a heart attack from pure anticipation.

"Uh, yeah-"

Naruto never got to finish as he was cut across by a squeal from Ino, her eyes sparkling with frenzy. Next to her, Sakura was also staring at him, shock showing plainly on her face.

"You're living with Iruka-_sensei_?!" asked Sakura finally, iterating every word carefully.

Naruto nodded and Ino gave another wail of enthusiasm.

"Oh my god, I can't believe it!" she shrieked.

"What?!" demanded Naruto, after seeing everyone round the table look at him oddly.

Sakura leaned forward over the table, speaking in hushed tones.

"You're living with a teacher, is that even _allowed_?" she asked.

Naruto found himself flushing red at the insinuation, leaving him spluttering.

"Hey, it's not anything like that!" yelped Naruto scandalised.

"It'd be like living with your parents if they were a teacher, ok?"

"Oh," said Ino, sounding somewhat disappointed, her arms dropping to fall limply in her lap.

"A-Ano…wh-what do you mean, l-like a parent, Naruto-kun?" questioned Hinata shyly from beside him.

Naruto looked at her, almost startled to have the obviously quiet girl actually ask him something.

"Oh, well," said Naruto, his hand darting once again to the back of his head, "Iruka-sensei's my guardian you see."

Hinata's pale eyes widened and she uttered a small, "Oh."

Kiba however, wasn't entirely satisfied, "What? Why's Iruka-sensei's you guardian, I mean, what about your parents?"

Naruto couldn't help the slight wince at Kiba's bluntness. When he answered however, his voice was perfectly level.

"They're dead."

Another uncomfortable silence descended over the table. The rabble coming from the surrounding tables suddenly seemed much louder.

Kiba looked appropriately guilty.

"Dude, I'm _so _sorry, I didn't mean to-"

Naruto broke in before Kiba could continue his babbling with a small smile, "Don't worry about it, I never met them, so there isn't exactly anything for me to miss or get upset about, ne?"

While Naruto might of thought that this was perfectly reassuring, believing it whole heartedly himself; he missed the _idea_ of parents, someone to care for him, more than the parents he _actually_ must have had at some point- he didn't even have names to put next to them after all, some of the others at the table did not seem to agree.

Sakura stood up once again, and leaned over the table to deliver a hard, fast smack to the back of Kiba's head.

"OW! Itai! What was that for?!"

"For being completely insensitive! How could you just bring up something like that, huh!?"

Naruto could only watch with unmoved bemusement as the two fell into a full out argument.

He turned to Hinata next to him.

"Hey, do they do this a lot?" he asked.

Hinata merely flushed darkly at being addressed directly and so it was an _almost_ amused Neji that answered him.

"Pretty much. It is all horribly childish; it often makes me wonder why I even associate with them at all."

Naruto snorted at the comment and dug back into his now cold noodles. He briefly made contact with jet-black eyes, which he kept gaze with only for a moment before promptly turning his head away, feeling an unfamiliar sensation wash up his spine.

The warning bell rang, signalling the end of lunch and both Sasuke and Neji abruptly stood and left the table, Shino and Shikamaru also leaving, though at a more sedate pace.

Naruto stared angrily at the retreating Uchiha's back, "Tch, what a bastard, has lunch with us, but doesn't even say a word!"

Kiba snorted beside him, "He's always been like that, sits with us nearly everyday. I don't think that he actually _likes_ anything, let alone other people."

Naruto frowned slightly, still gazing in the direction that Sasuke had disappeared.

"Then why does he come sit with us?" he muttered.

Kiba merely shrugged and rose from the table as well.

"Come on, we can't be late for registration, Kurenai-sensei will kill us if we are."

Naruto sighed and dragged himself back up the stairs to Room 218.

* * *

Iruka was currently drawing a strange sort of blank. He knew he should be doing something, or, at the very least, thinking something…but no. 

His mind had entered complete shut down and was having real trouble re-booting.

He should have expected this, hell, he had been expecting this ever since he came back to Tokyo, so why was he so unprepared to suddenly see him there?

Kakashi.

Who was most definitely incredibly angry with him. Properly, truly angry, and when Hatake Kakashi got angry…well, suffice to say that it did not bode well for Iruka.

Though he couldn't really complain, it was his entire fault in the first place anyway. And he had left with barely more than a note. And then had not returned for over six years.

Frankly, Iruka was surprised that Kakashi was maintaining the facade of calm so well, all things considered.

He knew it wouldn't last long.

"Kakashi…"mumbled Iruka, feeling incredibly out of sorts at the other man's sudden appearance in his classroom.

Kakashi closed his book with a 'snap' and replaced it in one of his back pockets, observing Iruka with a single eye. Despite his relaxed posture against the wall, it was obvious that the man was anything but 'serene' at the moment.

"Well Iruka, it's been a long time, well over six years, hasn't it?"

His tone was purposefully light and it made Iruka cringe, causing him to remain where he was by the desk, his thoughts still horrendously jumbled.

"Yes…it has been a while…"muttered Iruka softly. The one person he had simultaneously wished to see and avoid the most; Iruka truly wasn't sure what to feel anymore.

Kakashi did not seem impressed with the lack of proper responses from the sensei, and casually pushed himself off from the wall, slowly moving towards the man clutching to the desk as if it were a lifeline.

"I know things were a bit hectic at the end, just before you…left, but I didn't think it would warrant you to avoid me for so long," said Kakashi, halting a mere few centimetres before the brown haired man.

He was so close in fact, that Iruka could feel the other man's body heat. It worried him that even now he sought it as a source of comfort, even though at the moment, he was absolutely petrified of the man at the same time.

Kakashi leaned forward, abandoning his pretence of nonchalance.

"Six years, six years Iruka!" he spat. Iruka could only stare in silence.

"And for that entire time, I had no idea where you were, or what you were doing and why you _didn't come back when you were supposed to_."

Iruka was horrified to see the pain leaking through into the man's hoary eye; it made him feel all the worse. Meanwhile, Kakashi continued.

"Did I really hurt you that badly? I apologised and you _still_ run off-"

Iruka found the indignation to interject, he may have been in the wrong, but he would never run away from his problems like that. How dare Kakashi accuse him of such a thing!

"I did _not_ run off! It was already arranged for me to leave, it was merely unfortunate that when I left, we were not exactly on the best of terms. Our…disagreement had nothing to do with that whatsoever!"

Kakashi narrowed his one visible eye.

"If it was completely unrelated, then why were you gone so long, without even a word from you!?"

Iruka sighed in exasperation, "You know that it is almost impossible to send letters from such remote parts in the country, and even satellite can't reach the mountains, at least be reasonable Kakashi!"

Kakashi moved closer, so that their noses were almost touching, the two men glaring at each other.

"Perhaps I would be more _reasonable_ if my- if _you_ hadn't disappeared and _left me_ for so long?!" Kakashi growled out.

"Hey, I didn't mean to be away so long, it _was_ only meant to be for a year! But I …"

"You what Iruka, you what?" Kakashi was not amused, at all, by this constant dodging of the subject.

"I found someone who needed me more than you do! I had to make a choice and yes, even though I god damned missed you, Lord knows _why_, when you're being like this, I stood by my decision!"

"Oh, so you found something more important than me did you?" Kakashi grabbed a hold of Iruka's shoulders, his grip tightening as he leaned even further in, his breath ghosting across the man's neck.

"I-don't-"

Whatever Iruka was going to say however, was cut off as Kakashi suddenly became unnaturally still. Iruka tensed as well, wary of whatever had caused the silver-haired man to become so on edge. He waited with baited breath, as Kakashi appeared to inhale deeply over his skin.

Iruka felt like a bucket of ice had been dropped over him and his stomach had been replaced with acid as Kakashi spoke, sounding in his voice as if he was trying to restrain something menacingly feral.

"Iruka," said Kakashi with cold warning in his tone as he spoke remarkably evenly, "why do I smell someone else on you?"

Iruka froze, his mind once again screeching to a halt in disbelief. He frantically searched his mind for what on earth Kakashi could be talking about. Iruka hadn't been with anyone else, and even so, Kakashi would only get this worked up if he scented another…another youkai…And Iruka hadn't even met with any since he left Tokyo!

"Kakashi," he breathed out desperately as he felt the other man's grip tighten to a painful degree, "I haven't been with anyone, you know I wouldn't ever do that, no matter what happened with us."

"Then why do smell of someone else, Iruka-koi?" asked Kakashi dangerously.

Iruka was truly bemused, he had absolutely no idea how that could be, none at all. Unfortunately, he didn't think that Kakashi would be satisfied with that answer, and he was already treading on thin ice already, kuso!

"Kakashi, I truly don't know, I don't even know any others that are awakened, so I really, _really _have no idea," blurted out Iruka, eager to placate Kakashi's _other_ side before it reared it's fearsome head. It was bad enough at the moment as it was; he could already feel the beginning wisps of chakra forming in the air.

Kakashi merely growled in reply.

"No, I really have no idea what you're…oh." Iruka's eyes went wide as a possibility suddenly occurred to him. A possibility, that if it were true, was far too terrible to even contemplate, but…it was the only explanation.

"Oh?" questioned Kakashi suspiciously. He did not, had not, wished to believe that Iruka would cheat on him, it just simply wasn't in his nature, but what if some great evil had stolen his Iruka away from him, what then? It wasn't completely implausible that Iruka had been seduced, he was, after all, quite powerless to resist.

"Naruto," breathed out Iruka, only half aware of what he was saying.

"Naruto?" asked Kakashi, his voice trembling with suppressed rage; _this_ was the creature that had replaced him? He felt his vision begin to bleed red.

"Who the _fuck_ is Naruto Iruka?"

Yet it did not seem that Iruka had heard him, he was lost in his own little world of horrible outcomes and explanations. His eyes were curiously glazed over and he managed to deftly remove himself from Kakashi's hold, mumbling under his breath as he did so.

Kakashi blinked at the other's actions, startled from his rage at Iruka's strange behaviour.

"But, Naruto? He shouldn't even give off a scent at all, he's human, _human_…isn't he?" Iruka ran a hand through his hair, dragging several strands free from his ponytail, but not caring. He began to pace the length of the classroom. Kakashi could only watch in bewilderment, but taking in every word that Iruka was muttering nonetheless.

"But what if…? No, _no_. It couldn't be, could it? Damn it! I would have to know what that seal actually does! But if I'm right…"

It goes without saying really, that Kakashi had had enough, he had no desire to hear Iruka talk about things he couldn't follow, about some man he did not even know, who had, Kakashi thought viciously, taken _his_ place as Iruka's most precious person.

He had to know.

"Iruka," he demanded lowly, "who is _Naruto_?"

Iruka turned around, a seemingly surprised expression on his face as he recognised that Kakashi was still present.

This time, Iruka actually looked at him, not just a sweeping observatory glance. The man was tense, his shoulders hunched in an uncharacteristic manner. He also appeared far older than he had when Iruka had left; with greater stress lines, and his hair, which normally defied gravity, appeared far too limp. The man was pale too, not in a healthy manner either, but so as to appear drawn, and the dark circles under his visible eye were further indication of frequently interrupted rest.

Iruka felt his heart splinter, causing his breath to catch, and his eyes to feel oddly dry as he blinked repeatedly. This was all his fault. How could he have done this to him, to the man he loved so dearly, even if they had fought all those years ago.

He gradually moved towards him and as he approached gave a soft, sad smile, as he stopped right in front of him.

Iruka couldn't help but stare, as he slowly lifted his hands and gently pushed up the headband, angled _just so_, and revealed a strained red eye, three tomoe swirling lazily.

Iruka tenderly let a few of his fingers trail down the man's face, halting as they met the material of the mask that he always wore.

"What have I done to you?" he asked to himself softly.

Kakashi said and did nothing; Iruka removed the hand and moved back to lean against the desk.

"You have nothing to worry about Kakashi," he stared at the white ceiling contemplatively, "I'm his guardian, so would that make Naruto my son?"

Kakashi's reaction to _that_, was perhaps the most amusing thing Iruka had ever seen. His eye's went wide, and he choked out a broken, "Na-na-niii?" as he choked on his spittle.

Iruka mentally saved it in his 'best moments'. He couldn't help but laugh stridently, as the normally so unfazed Hatake Kakashi floundered.

"Wait, wait, so the rumours are true? You _did_ bring back some country kid back with you?" Kakashi finally recovered enough to speak coherently.

"Yes," said Iruka with a slight frown.

Kakashi stared at the sensei for a few moments, before figuring that no, Iruka wasn't about to explain any further for today; he looked far too troubled for that.

"Maa, I guess that's alright then, so long as you won't be disappearing on me again," said Kakashi, reverting back to his more usual speech patterns.

Iruka merely shook his head mutely, before jumping as the warning bell went off.

"Ah! You made me miss the entire of lunch, now I'm going to be late registering my class!"

He turned to glare at the root of all his problems, which, he was enraged to see, had taken out that stupid perverted book of his again, and was reading it without a care in the world.

"Well, I guess you ought to get going then, ne?"

Huffing in disdain, Iruka promptly gathered together all his test sheets and strode past the silver-haired pervert without a backwards glance.

It was almost as if six years hadn't passed at all.

* * *

**A/N: Another chapter down, next one shall include much more Sasuke, and Naruto, and time should speed up a bit too. And the plot will actually start to come through in more than just my super subtle hints (e.g. what did Kakashi mean when he said 'reasonable if my-if you'?) Well I hope my (few) readers enjoy, and feedback is most appreciated:)**


	6. A Scarecrow Visits

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

**A/N:Well, has anyone missed me? I hope you have. I know it's been a while but well, work sucks. At any rate, here is the new chapter! It's got quite a bit of Kakashi and Iruka as well as a time skip, but there will be lots of Sasuke and Naruto next time! Please read and review, it'll make me oh so happy- you know it has the miraculous tendency of getting my fingers typing...**

Warnings: Sasunaru fighting love! Oh, and mysterious plot points abound!

* * *

**Musing in Progress**

Sasuke stared listlessly out the window as he was driven home, the late afternoon light sliding through the window to skit over his features, before slipping away again.

He rested pale fingers on the armrest, and sat stoically against the cool leather interior, his mind processing activity, even as his body did not in its stillness.

He let his head rest gently against the smooth glass of the window, allowing a better view of the streets outside as they flashed past.

Just like he had predicted, his first day back at school after his little hiatus had been undeniably troublesome. Dealing with idiotic schoolmates and a new horde of simpering girls, not to mention the disengaging lesson material. The entire day had been a catastrophic waste of time.

And then, there was _Uzumaki Naruto_.

The Uchiha felt a frown begin to form just thinking about the boy. The brash blonde had grated on him the entire day, first when he had the audacity to _take his seat, _then at lunch, he practically yelled at him for being 'uncommunicative', to which he was slightly disgusted with himself for then getting involved in the following argument.

In fact, Sasuke wasn't entirely sure who was the last person to be able to get to him so much in a single day, other than his brother that is.

He just-he just…. couldn't _stand_ the dobe!

And that was, frankly, worrying him slightly. Why would he, with all his great restraint when it comes to such matters, get drawn into something so…childish?

And why did the Uzumaki make him so riled with merely his presence?

Perhaps if he had been somebody else, Sasuke would have simply disregarded it as hate-at-first-sight and leave it at that. But there was definitely something about Naruto, which made his baser instincts agitated.

And that was a definite cause for further investigation.

Yes, he would keep an eye on Uzumaki Naruto, he thought with a slight frown, feeling an odd unsettlement just from thinking about him.

As the car swung into the driveway, he dismissed the feeling as a mixture of annoyance and minor wariness, and nothing more.

* * *

The kettle whistled faintly as Iruka leaned tiredly against the kitchen counter, immensely grateful that the school day was over. He absently ripped off the sealed paper tops of the instant ramen packets; not exactly nutritional, containing horrifying amounts of salt, but he was exhausted, and most definitely not up to any sort of proper cooking tonight.

As he mixed in the steaming water, he glanced behind him, a gently smile easing its way onto his face as he saw Naruto seated at the small kitchen table, various books set out as he bent over them, over-chewed pencil in hand.

It was certainly a strange sight to see Naruto so enthusiastic over his homework; Iruka chalked it up to being the fun novelty of a new place, and that Naruto would be back to normal soon enough.

Riffling through a draw, he pulled out some chopsticks and carefully placed both ramen and implements on the table, careful to find space in between the various scattered textbooks.

"Arigatou Iruka-sensei!"

Iruka sighed deeply and leaned next to the fridge, carelessly poking the contents of his own cup with his chopsticks.

"So, Naruto how was your day? You settled in alright with your new school?"

Naruto nodded diligently, blonde bangs hanging over his face once again as he pushed himself away from the table slightly, signalling the end of his math equations for the present.

"Yep, it was cool, I was kinda worried that I'd get lost all the time, but this guy, Kiba, showed me around the place and everything, and I met loads of other people too! Ne, Iruka-sensei, is pink a natural hair colour? Oh! And I had lunch with everyone else as well, and the lessons were pretty ok too- I didn't know art was a subject, oh, except for physics at the end, I so _totally_ didn't understand a word the sensei said, I almost got kinda worried, but then I looked over, and saw that Ino was glazed over too, so it wasn't so bad."

Iruka just smiled as he listened to Naruto's rushed ramblings about the day; he was relieved that the boy didn't seem to be having too many issues adjusting to the new environment, and he even seemed to making friends too.

"So I take it that you got along well with everyone then?" asked Iruka calmly, cutting off any of Naruto's further ramblings.

The blonde was halfway through nodding, finally about to start digging into his cup of noodles, when he suddenly paused, before his face contorted into a frown.

"Yeah, apart from this right bastard, Sasuke! He was such a prick, and-I dunno, there was just something about him that rubbed me the wrong way I guess," he trailed off, the frown deepening.

"Sasuke?" he sighed almost imperceptibly, "I suppose you can't get along with everyone, but still, if you don't, you should just ignore him-no getting into any fights, understand?" Iruka stated reprovingly.

He supposed it was too much to ask for Naruto not to irritate _someone_ in a single day.

Naruto didn't deign to reply, merely shoving some noodles into his mouth with a slight grumble.

Iruka wasn't sure to be worried or amused as he saw Naruto's countenance brighten at an almost alarming speed.

"Suuu-goi! Ne, ne, Iruka-sensei, what is this, it tastes really, _really_ good!"

Naruto briefly paused to lift the flimsy, already lukewarm cup to eye level, avidly deciphering the embellished characters of the front label.

Iruka groaned under his breath; it seemed he had _already_ got the blonde hooked on perhaps the most unhealthy creation possible.

Iruka deftly snatched the cup from Naruto's grasp and, ignoring the squawk of indignation, swiftly deposited it in the bin.

"Naruto, finish your homework and then go to bed," ordered Iruka, cutting off all remaining protests, rubbing the bridge of his nose in exasperation, "it's been a long day."

Naruto returned to his algebra, huffing only slightly.

Iruka predicted many long days in the near future with a weary resignation.

* * *

And just as Iruka had foreseen, indeed they were. For him anyway. Over the next few weeks, both Iruka and Naruto manage to settle themselves down into some sort of rhythm, Iruka driving them both to school in the mornings, spending the weekdays at school and then Naruto making his own way back, after he was invited a couple days in to travel home with some of his new friends.

Naruto had jumped at the chance, eager to try to learn his way better around Tokyo; though the first time he had been on the underground trains had, admittedly, been a minor traumatising experience, considering he had never been in such dark, confined space before.

Kiba and Ino, the jerks, had just laughed at him, while Sakura had smothered light giggles behind her hand as he accidentally jumped and bit his tongue when another train passed by in the opposite direction.

Truthfully, Naruto was as pretty much clueless about navigating the city as when he had first arrived, but travelling out by himself, with _friends_, was worthwhile enough by itself; he was sure he would get a better sense of direction in time anyways.

Naruto had never really experienced so much interaction with other people before either, it was a strange sensation, but a most welcomed one all the same. He had been completely nonplussed when Kiba invited him over to his house one day after school, but he had quickly recovered and answered with an exuberant yes.

Heh, seemed like he needed his cell phone to call Iruka-sensei after all.

It had certainly been a revealing afternoon, what with Kiba's sister Hana putting him in a head lock and then tackling him to the floor as soon as he steeped inside, to hearing Iruka sound almost tearful over the phone. It had also been interesting to see Akamaru, Kiba's dog, give his hand a thorough tongue-bath before proceeding to follow him around diligently the entire time he was there.

Naruto really could say that these past three weeks were possibly the best of his life, he was even keeping up with the schoolwork too, even, might he add, outdoing Kiba with minimal effort.

No, there was only really one thing that had marred his time in Tokyo so far.

Uchiha Sasuke.

Now, Naruto wasn't entirely sure who struck first, but whenever the two were in the same room, no matter how their peers and teachers would try to separate them, they would always end up glaring at each other, tempers high, insults of various calibres flying.

It would have been fine, however, if that was the limit of the problem. Outside class, things got worse, as it appeared that, despite being as silent as the grave, Sasuke was a…friend of sorts to the other people Naruto had become involved with.

Which inevitably translated to meeting each other more than was necessarily healthy. Iruka-sensei most definitely thought so, mused Naruto with a wince.

The worst had peaked only a few days ago. Sasuke had managed with the utmost ease to piss him off during English, brushing him off in the most depreciating way achievable.

It had been the last straw for Naruto. Figuratively, of course.

Seething, once the bell had rung, Naruto had sought swift, and rather petty vengeance. It really wasn't like him to do so, but it appeared that most things became exceptions when that bloody Uchiha was involved!

Naruto had gone to Neji, who had sat with them at lunch the first day, and had been known to ahng out with them on occasion. He was Hinata's cousin, a year their senior but was also friends with Sasuke, or at least, as close to a friend he could get. With a great amount of pathetic pleading, and a lot of luck in the form of a most likely morbidly amused Hyuuga more than anything else, Naruto had managed to get hold of the Uchiha's mobile number.

Which somehow found its way pinned to the main notice board not much later.

Suffice to say, the large hoards of fans that stalked Sasuke every minute of the school day had not gone unnoticed by the blonde.

The next day, Naruto for the first time got an inkling of why all his other classmates were deathly afraid of Uchiha Sasuke-his glare alone could have melted steel.

Not wanting to take any chances, Naruto had made himself impressively scarce the entire day.

And was subsequently unsurprised when Sasuke retaliated.

Though, frankly, Naruto was not amused in the slightest the next day when his clothes went mysteriously missing after swimming (an activity that had caused him much bemusement-learning how to swim properly; he had been even more surprised to find that some could barely swim at all!).

Cold, wet and shivering, his towel not even safe, Naruto had been more irritated than embarrassed, considering he was more used to stripping clothing than his fellows, having done it many times during the course of the hot days back at Konoha. Still, Naruto had clambered into Iruka's jeep _that_ particular afternoon, ignoring his sensei's accusing stare that plainly said 'this-is-the-first-and-last-warning-to-stop-this-before-it-gets-out-of-hand'.

After sneezing his way all through the next day, Naruto had begrudgingly taken up on Iruka's advice, despite the self-satisfied expression on the bastards face. As much as he would like to do something in response, oh so _badly_ did he want to, he wasn't stupid enough to cause further antagonism; he was still new here and was on a scholarship.

Damn.

Best to stop before any teacher's got involved, as bitter a fact as it was to Naruto to have to swallow.

That incident was a week ago now, and luckily, during the times since then when Naruto and Sasuke had been forced to be in the same area once more, neither had been particularly spiteful- much to the relief of many, including Iruka.

Which led them to today, just over a month since Iruka and Naruto came to Tokyo, spring moving further away from the wet chill of winter to become almost balmy.

It was a golden afternoon, despite the heavy grey clouds looming in the distance. It was a Wednesday, and as such Iruka had managed to get away from teaching at three, allowing him some well deserved relaxation time as Naruto was still at Shichiyou, and wouldn't be home for at least another two hours, fortune permitting.

Iruka had been through the door no more than ten minutes, however, when he was interrupted from preparing some fresh green tea by a knock on the door.

He had been more than a little surprised to find a single smiling eye facing him as he opened the door.

"Yo! I hope you don't mind me dropping in."

Iruka stuttered, "Ka-Kakashi! I-I, well, of course, come in, I was just-just making some tea."

Smiling disarmingly at the flustered man, Kakashi smoothly moved through the doorway, shutting it closed behind him with a gentle push.

"I'm afraid that we haven't been able to talk that much Iruka," said Kakashi carelessly, as he sat himself on the sofa in the living room without invitation.

Iruka gave a soft laugh, "I don't mind at all, I'm just glad you didn't indulge in your strange habit of coming in through the window this time."

Kakashi gave a lazy, one-shouldered shrug, "It's a little harder when you're apartment is on the second floor."

Iruka just gave a non-committal hum and gently placed the tea set on the coffee table before settling himself on the one, single straw armchair.

"So, what did you want to talk about? I know that you have something particular in mind," he asked politely.

Kakashi heaved a heavy sigh from the sofa.

"Maa, maa Iruka-koi, I'm hurt that you would think so little of me, only coming to see you for my own gain."

Iruka gave a soft snort as he blew on his green tea, the liquid still steaming away copiously.

He paused to flash Kakashi a look that invited the man to continue.

"Well, I wanted to see how you were doing, you've been out of Tokyo so long that I thought maybe you might have forgot how to use the kitchen appliances and would starve to death; that's quite a hazard."

"Nice to know you're excuses have managed to get _worse_ over the years Kakashi."

Kakashi merely smiled in reply, the only evidence of which was the slight curve and warmth in his single visible eye.

"So," asked Kakashi after a few moments comfortable silence, "where's this _son_ of yours Iruka? How's he doing settling in?"

_Ah,_ thought Iruka, _that was it._

"He's still at school, he finishes late today; I'm sure he'll come bouncing through the door in an hour or so, if he manages not to get lost again on the way home," sighed Iruka.

Kakashi gave the smallest of nods, before sipping on his own tea, savouring the flavour after so long; Iruka was the only one who could make him drink the stuff.

He flicked a contemplative glance to Iruka, observing the sensei with a critical eye. After a few moments of quiet inspection, he cleared his throat just enough to redraw the man's wandering attention.

"I couldn't help but notice Iruka," started Kakashi, voice tinged with wariness, "that this Naruto, smells just like a youkai," he paused briefly, gaze pensive, "I'm wondering how you came into contact with him; you know most of the bloodlines keep a strict track of their members."

Iruka sighed wearily, setting his slightly chipped teacup on the coffee table, before sinking deep into the back of the chair, resting gratefully on the cushions.

"Naruto has no heritage that I'm aware of. At all; he's completely human. Or," said Iruka softly, "at least he was."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow, "Was?"

Iruka gave a small nod, eyes glazed as his thoughts took him far away from his living room.

"When he was still a baby, I think it may have been even on the day he was born, Naruto had the Kyuubi no Youko sealed within him, making him a jinchuuriki," he said softly.

Kakashi's grey eye widened, "A _jinchuuriki?!_"

Iruka simply breathed out an affirmative as he reached for his soothing tea from the coffee table.

Kakashi gave a long sigh, leaning back onto the sofa cushions, mind whirring. A jinchuuriki, a power completely undiluted by the passage of time, and the thinning of blood. And the Kyuubi no Youko too, the nine tailed beast.

"So that is why he feels like a demon," breathed Kakashi.

Iruka shot his head up, anxious worry flitting over his features, eyes wide in surprise.

"What do you mean Kakashi, you shouldn't be able to _feel _anything. Perhaps a little, but no more than that! He's human!"

Kakashi blinked in surprise, startled at how frantic Iruka was, sitting nervously on his straw armchair, and ringing his hands desperately.

"I really _do_ have to know what that blasted seal does now," mumbled Iruka to himself, brown eyes clouded over in deep thought and concern.

"You shouldn't worry so much Iruka-koi, it's not exactly a bad thing, ne? And if you don't know what the seal used on Naruto does, then it may even be perfectly natural," he paused momentarily, "who was the one who performed the sealing?"

Iruka shook his head despairingly, "I have no idea, the priests wouldn't say, only that it was perhaps the most complex ever achieved, and that- and that the man died during the process."

Kakashi quickly sorted through the information, feeling, despite himself, rather impressed about the power that must have been used in order to carry out such a feat.

"But," Iruka continued hurriedly, "even if Naruto's…transition, is normal, why is it manifesting itself already? Even if he did hold any power himself, it should be locked away, buried deep!" Iruka cried out anxiously, having got up from his chair to start pacing.

"Maa, Iruka, calm down," said Kakashi as he too rose from his seat to join the other man, "you're getting all worked up for nothing, so come on, lets just sit down and talk about something else?"

The grey-haired man was smiling that disarming smile of his again, and Iruka deflated almost immediately, letting himself sink down, this time onto the couch next to Kakashi.

"So," asked Kakashi cheerfully, "how is life at Shichiyou going for you Iruka? I'm sure you've missed Tokyo while you were away."

Iruka couldn't help the soft chuckle, "Yes, I did miss it, the running hot water especially. And though teaching is tiring, I wouldn't change it for the world."

Kakashi chose not to reply, knowing full well why Iruka would never quit his job; his lovely Iruka-koi did, after all, have sadistic tendencies that he tried to hide away from the general population, as to appear mild and caring.

Kakashi had long ago stopped believing in that; he believed it started when he became over-friendly with the guest room, as he had spent so much time in it-and not in Iruka's.

"Naruto can sometimes be a bit of a handful though," the sensei said with a sigh, "he just has so much energy, it can be rather frightening sometimes. Though he's been very good with school."

"Well," Iruka added with a frown, "mostly, he seems to not get along with one of his classmates. I don't know much about it apart from they both greatly dislike each other, but-well, Naruto did get in my car the other day, wet, shivering and conspicuously missing his school uniform."

Kakashi felt himself chuckle lightly at the image, even though he had no idea what 'Naruto' even looked like; the boy already seemed to be oddly charismatic, and he had only heard a little about him.

"Ah, you know what boy's are like, always getting into scrapes and fights," he paused, putting a finger to masked face in mock contemplation, "especially with the ones they have crushes on."

Iruka flushed red, and sputtered on his tea, "_Kakashi!_ Don't say things like that!"

Kakashi was airily amused.

"And why is that? I would've thought that you would be happy to see little Naruto-kun having his first romantic escapades-"

"One!" cut across Iruka hotly, "Don't call him that when you haven't even met him yet, two! Do not call them 'romantic escapades'- I suppose you haven't stopped reading that perverted book of yours! And three, Naruto is far too young, naïve and inexperienced to be getting himself into these sorts of things!"

Kakashi wisely kept silent, merely raising his hands in a sign of conciliation.

"Maa, maa, no need to get angry."

Iruka gave a huff as the source of his ire ran dry, and settled himself disgruntled back on the sofa, unsure when he had stood up in the first place.

"I strongly doubt Naruto would ever want _him_ at any rate," mumbled Iruka under his breath.

"Oh?" asked Kakashi, his tone full of playful curiosity, "And who exactly is this boy that doesn't get along with Naruto hmm?"

Iruka gave another sigh, "Uchiha Sasuke."

Kakashi felt himself momentarily torn between choking on his own spittle in pure shock, or bursting out into a fit of manic giggling.

Uchiha….Sasuke?

Sasuke!?

Kakashi couldn't restrain the chuckles, even if he wanted to.

"And you're telling me that it was Uchiha that stole Naruto-kun's clothes, is that it?"

Iruka nodded grumpily, feeling frustrated at seeing Kakashi appear so…devious all of a sudden, as if something of the utmost hilarity had just been revealed to him.

"Though to be fair, Naruto started it, I think he pinned Sasuke's mobile phone number on the main notice board," said Iruka, shaking his head.

"Really?" asked Kakashi, managing to keep his voice from trembling with laughter. Suddenly, Sasuke's bad mood a week ago, coupled with the near constant ringing- only to have mysteriously stopped after something that sounded suspiciously like plastic being smashed against a wall-made a lot more sense.

It had been good, Kakashi admitted to himself, to Sasuke so lively. Even if it was only in anger.

With a slight tilt of the head, the clock on kitchen wall came into view, proudly displaying the time as nearing six o'clock.

Leaning back forward on the beige sofa cushions, Kakashi spared Iruka another glance.

"When did you say Naruto was getting back?"

Iruka appeared a little startled, showing that he too had obviously lost track of time also. He frowned slightly, and pushed himself up from his seat, wandering over to the kitchen to glance at the time.

He swallowed.

"Right about now," he admitted, "actually, more like fifteen minutes ago.

Striding quickly to the front windows of the living room, Iruka faced out, surveying his view of Tokyo.

The grey clouds had shifted and gathered overhead, bringing an early nightfall. It looked like it was going to rain.

Iruka winced as the first flecks of water hit the glass.

Where was Naruto?

* * *

**A/N:So, things are becoming increasingly mysterious eh? Don't worry, this is just the beginning of the rollercoaster. Next chapter should be up soon, so hold on tight, next chapter has the start of a better relationship between our little Sasu and Naru!**


	7. Sasuke's Blushing Decision

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

**A/N: Oh my, the new chapter is up! Just so you know, i've been doing a LOT of editting on this story, even deleted the prologue, but everything is all better now. The manga at the moment it just so exciting! But, you know you have it bad when you start beleiving Sasunaru is actually Canon and can't wait for Naruto and Sasuke to meet so they'll start making out...and then i realise it won't happen #sobs.**

**You know another thing that makes me sad? Well, last chapter i got 1 review (and that was from my beta-for shame on all of you!) and frankly, its making me depressed-again! In fact, if I didnt like this story so much i would have deleted it by now, so please review for me, critiscism, begs for updates, ideas you want to see, heck, even insults would make me feel better right now :(**

Warnings: Violence.

* * *

**Sasuke's Blushing Decision **

Naruto cursed as he finally emerged from behind the stiff and far-too-heavy door, as he pushed open the fire escape with final shove on the bar.

The metal creaked loudly and Naruto was sent flying forwards due to the momentum.

He cursed again as he disentangled himself from the floor, brushing grit and dust from his uniform in disgust.

Today had really not been his day, Naruto decided unhappily. First, he woke up late and so skipped out on breakfast, which had subsequently made him cranky all the way till lunch when he could eat, then he had somehow managed to misplace his chemistry textbook, and in the afternoon he had had a potentially nasty run in with some of the larger boys from the year above- involving something to do with how 'teinousha should stay in katainaka', which probably would have turned for the worse had the bell not rung, and _then,_ after school he had to participate in some incredibly pointless 'after school social activity'.

Naruto had not been amused.

It was well past five and he had only just got away. And out of the fire escape no less.

And, Naruto thought with a frown while glancing up at the sky, it looked as if it were about to rain as well, if the heavily laden dark grey clouds above were any indication.

Grumbling about the general unfairness of seemingly _everything _today, he reached behind him to fish his bag from inside the door and swiftly made his way down the confined alleyway, eager to get home to Iruka-sensei's as quickly as possible; with any luck, before he got soaked from the incoming downpour.

However, he had not gone more than a few yards before he halted mid-step.

Naruto wasn't entirely sure what made him pause, but he was certain it had to do with the feeling that something was distinctly _wrong._

It may of been pure instinct, but nonetheless, it made even the fine hairs on his arms bristle, and made him shudder, which had nothing to do with the encroaching chill of the early evening.

He shook himself and continued down to the entrance to the alleyway, fervently hoping that he was wrong, and nothing bad would be waiting and that he could just go home to Iruka, finish his homework and then collapse on his bed.

Naruto reached the corner and hesitantly stepped out where it met the pavement, prepared for a quick dash across the road and to the station. Glancing under his lashes, he finally deemed it clear and was just about to move when something obscured his vision.

His skin felt like prickling again.

Ignoring the warning, Naruto slowly lifted his head, eyes taking in the familiar black uniform of Shichiyou. Further up, he recognised the face as belonging to a senior student named Dosu.

Chancing a look over the bigger boy's shoulder he made out Zaku and a few others of the ones who had attempted to accost him earlier that day. He counted about five of them in total.

The stone that had settled in his stomach upon first seeing them seem to fall even further. He glanced back at Dosu, who appeared to be the leader of this little 'gang', warily.

When they had first started throwing him looks of the not-so-amicable- kind a few weeks ago, he had been almost blissfully unaware of their problem.

However, it hadn't taken more than a few low-pitched mutterings to clear up any confusion.

It wasn't often that a person from the katainaka, or countryside came to the cities, there was such a distinct boundary between the two, and of course, those that lived in the cities often thought of themselves better than their rural counterparts. As a result, it was not uncommon for people like Naruto to be a source of resentment.

He had just been lucky that Kiba and Sakura and the others found him as more of a source of curiosity than as one of hatred.

At any rate, Naruto _really _didn't like the smug look of glee adorning Dosu's rather ugly facial features.

It may have had something to do with one of the larger boys behind him taking the opportunity to crack his knuckles.

Naruto swallowed to hide his nervousness. Frankly, most of the time, he would be pretty confident in the knowledge that he could look after himself, and that if it came down to it, he was more than a good fight. However, five on one were never good odds, especially when the rest were all about a foot taller than he was; curse his shortness to hell!

"He-he," laughed Naruto nervously, "so, what do you guys want right now? I mean, I'm sure there's no need to get violent or anything, he-he."

"Oh, but I think there is. I mean, how are you gonna get back to your stinking farmyard, if we don't kick you out?" The leer was so prominent in the older boy's voice that Naruto had to resist hard not to punch that stupid grin off Dosu's not-so-pretty-face.

Unfortunately, that wouldn't make the situation any better.

The group of boy's seemed to take this as a cue and tightened the circle, forcing Naruto to step back until he felt his back hit the rough brick wall behind him. He could feel his heart speed up and his breaths come faster in anticipation, so much that the adrenaline rushing through him felt almost tangible.

He swallowed again, and tilted his head up so he could still keep an eye on Dosu as the man himself moved so close that there was no more than a finger's width apart from each other.

So close that Naruto felt the breath fan itself out onto his cheek and the faint sensation of spittle falling.

"It's about time you were shown where you belong in the world, _teinousha_."

He was unprepared for the first hit.

His back connected harshly with the rough brick behind him and he was forced to bend over double at the fist just under his ribcage.

Before he could recover, it was followed by another, and then another.

Trying to quell his nausea from being winded so badly, he could do nothing as he was wrenched from the wall and flung down onto the pavement.

As his head hit the concrete with a painful thud, he caught a glimpse of the grey sky above and absently noted that it was raining, as the first few drops smacked him on the face.

He was interrupted when a foot came down on his ribs, causing him to grimace in pain, though he bit his lip in order not to release the scream that he desperately wanted to.

The rough, booted foot came down again, this time on his abdomen, sending another blunt, punishing pain jolting though him, and causing him to bite through his lip, blood dribbling over onto his chin.

He couldn't get up, one of the others was holding down his arms and another was pinning his legs with their newly polished shoes.

He was about to resign himself to closing his eyes and taking the beating when he felt one of his ribs jar exceptionally painfully, causing him to gasp.

It was then that he felt, _heard_, something growling dangerously. It took him a few moments, as the pain in his side throbbed, to discover that it was coming from himself. The boy's around him didn't seem to take notice.

Until that is, Naruto suddenly managed to break free of the restraints holding him down and sat up, following through with a hard punch to the gut of the one who had been kicking him not a moment ago.

Struggling viciously, Naruto scrambled off the ground and this time, was ready for the hands reaching out to grab a hold of him. Feeling an unknown strength rushing through his veins, he was able to give a crushing uppercut to one of thug's jaw, sending him tumbling to the ground. Using the follow through, he was able to spin around and hit the other in the back of the head and then knee him in the stomach, unheeding to the fact that he was moving faster then he should by any right be able to do so.

The last, that Naruto vaguely recognised as Zaku, was a few feet away from him, and unlike his companions, merely stared at the blonde boy, not moving a single inch.

The boy that they had just been beating up, quite successfully, had suddenly turned…feral. He had a wild look in his eyes; eyes that were no longer the azure blue from before.

The rain began to fall harder, turning from spit to a shower.

Zaku gulped and was just about to make a run for it when one of the cars on the nearby road came to a halt. Eyes widening, and not even waiting for the car door to fully open, Zaku hissed at the others to get up and promptly ran off down the street and out of sight, fully intent on never going near that freak-kid with the weird eyes ever again.

Naruto meanwhile, was facing away from the street, and so was surprised to see his attackers all suddenly run off. He wasn't displeased however, as the strange feeling ebbed away, along with the adrenaline, making all the pains; mostly in his chest, come rushing back with a sharp stab.

Grabbing his side, where he was _sure_ one of his ribs was cracked, Naruto stumbled backwards until he hit the wall and slid down to rest on the ground, limbs spread haphazardly.

He winced as the rainwater fell onto his cut lip, making it sting even further. He sat there completely unaware of another's presence until he felt a shadow fall over him, blocking out the rain.

"Usuratonkachi."

* * *

Iruka wrung his hands in a nervous gesture, nibbling on his lower lip as he peered out over the darkening skyline. 

He glanced over to the clock, bypassing the relaxed figure of a scarecrow on his couch, to the far kitchen wall, just visible through the door.

Six twenty two.

And still no Naruto.

He was supposed to be here over an hour ago! What the hell had happened?

Iruka began to pace by the lounge windows, occasionally making a small noise of distress.

It wasn't like Naruto to forget to call him if he was doing something with his friends, so obviously, something far worse had occurred! Naruto was _his _charge, and _his _responsibility. Hell, he was practically his own adopted son for Christ's sake!

And Iruka had no idea where he was!

He huffed and returned to his vigil of staring out the bay windows, perhaps on the off chance that he'd see a tuft of bright blonde hair turn the corner and stroll up to the door.

Kakashi reclined comfortably on the sofa, looking over Iruka occasionally, in his own version of worry. Stealing a glance at his watch, he frowned slightly, but dared not interrupt Iruka's worrying.

What had happened to him? Naruto might have been able to take care of himself back in Konoha, but they were in Tokyo now, he could easily get lost, or worse; easily be never found or heard from again.

Making another one of the strange sounds of distress from the back of his throat, Iruka resumed his pacing.

* * *

Naruto lifted his head; blonde locks sticking down onto his skin from the water, gaze fixing on the figure holding a black umbrella above him. 

As Naruto looked up, Sasuke was able to catch a last glimpse of startling red before irises faded back to blue. Breath catching uncomfortably at the sight, fully knowing what it meant, Sasuke did what he did best; appear completely unemotional.

Disorientated as he was, it took Naruto a few moments to recognise the person standing before him. It was clear when he did, given by the heartfelt groan that had little to do with the pain from his wounds.

"Teme," seethed Naruto, his voice nearly husky from his grogginess.

Sasuke remained unmoving from where he stood.

"You seem to have gotten yourself into some trouble, dobe."

"You know," started Naruto angrily, "I'm cold, wet and in an unnecessarily large amount of pain right now, and your stupid statements in that stupid voice of yours really aren't helping, so if that's all you wanted to say, then…just go."

The poor blonde was practically wheezing by the end, his bruised ribs causing him trouble.

Sasuke tilted his head, and replied with his ever enigmatic, "Hn," to which Naruto couldn't help but let out a shaky laugh, despite the jilting pain it caused him.

"Always a bastard, aren't you?"

Both fell silent, the only sound the patter of rain thudding gently against the umbrella.

Naruto breathed heavily, fighting to even out his unsteady inhalation, while Sasuke regarded his prone form contemplatively.

Naruto was just about to give getting up a go, when he heard the stoic Uchiha give out what appeared to be a wearisome sigh, before discarding the protection against the wet weather and bent down to help him get up, staggering a little at the weight as he adjusted it over his shoulder.

Naruto wasn't exactly helpful, considering he was in more than a slight amount of shock as he was lifted from the ground.

"Wh-what are you doing?!"

Sasuke gave him an annoyed glare, "What do you think I'm doing, idiot?"

Naruto sputtered a bit more and Sasuke gave another sigh.

"I'll give you a ride home, no doubt you wouldn't even be able to get yourself anywhere in this state, tch."

Naruto closed his mouth and decided to ponder more on this strange situation once they were both out of the cold and rain.

With some teetering manoeuvring, and quite a few curses, both of them were now seated in the back of a rather plush black Mercedes, which as soon as the door was slammed shut, smoothly pulled away as if it knew exactly where it was going.

Feeling more than a little uncomfortable, Naruto made himself busy by arranging himself so that he put the least amount of pressure on the various bruises blooming over his skin. Biting on his already well-mutilated lip, he chanced a glance to the dark haired boy seated opposite, who was staring impassively out of the tinted glass window.

Why the hell was _Sasuke_, of all people, being-well, _nice_ to him? Yeah, he was accompanied by the same insults, but really, Naruto couldn't bring himself to care much at that moment. I mean, Sasuke was being almost near _friendly _at the moment, or at least, as close as the boy ever got to it.

Sasuke seemed to have become aware of Naruto's questioning frown, though he only angled his head slightly to show his question to Naruto's stare.

For reasons Naruto had no desire to fathom right then, the look made him blush.

"Ano, it's just that…why the hell are you giving me a lift home?!" asked Naruto indignantly.

Sasuke raised an amused eyebrow, not that he would ever admit to being amused at the other boy's accusations, accompanied by wild hand movements.

Never.

Naruto had the decency to clarify himself.

"Well its not as if we exactly get along now is it, bastard? You could have very easily just left me there…"Naruto trailed off, a mischievous glint suddenly alighting in his eyes.

Sasuke had the foresight to feel a little wary.

"Aww, Sasuke_-kun_, I didn't know you cared so much about me!"

Sasuke felt a growl threaten to crawl its way past his lips, how dare that idiot imply such a thing!

"Don't make stupid assumptions, I _don't _care. At all."

Naruto was unperturbed by the Uchiha's frozen tone, which truthfully, just angered Sasuke all the more.

"Oh? So why are you helping me then?" asked Naruto lightly.

Sasuke kept his gaze even as he stared down the blue eyes opposite, "I have my own reasons."

There was silence for a moment-

"You don't know, do you?"

Sasuke quickly shifted to stare out the window once again, and didn't answer, though a faint dusting of pink could be identified coating pale cheeks.

Naruto simply broke down into raucous laugher, ignoring the slight wheezing coming from his lungs.

* * *

The car came to a smooth halt and Naruto clambered out, hissing slightly as the movement jarred his ribs yet again. He shifted his bag higher onto his shoulder and turned to face the darkened form of Sasuke, the orange light from the streetlamp overhead causing silhouettes. 

"Uh, thanks. I guess. For the ride home," said Naruto awkwardly, not entirely sure about the decorum he should be using for this sort of situation.

But really, Sasuke was the last person he thought would help him out.

The Uchiha in question, however, didn't seem nearly as discomfited about the situation as Naruto was.

"Hn, just next time, don't expect anything, baka."

And with that, the black door slammed closed and the Mercedes drove off as quietly as it had come.

Naruto stared after it for a while, even when it had turned the corner and was out of sight. Just how bad, and downright weird, was his day going to get?

Huffing slightly to himself, he turned around and slowly made his way to the apartment block and trudged up the stairs to Iruka's flat. He didn't even have to look at a watch to know he was late- as in really, _really_ late, but at this point, he was just glad that the rain had stopped.

Inwardly bracing himself for Iruka-sensei's forthcoming inquisition, Naruto took out his keys and inched the door open, expecting at any moment for Iruka to swoop down on him, full of righteous fury.

He wasn't disappointed.

"Naruto!" called Iruka, immediately rushing up to him as soon as the door clicked shut, "Where on earth have you been? Did you know how _worried_ I was-?"

Iruka cut himself off however, once he caught sight of the rather nasty purple bruise blooming across Naruto's jaw, and the various long scratches, which were only just beginning to scab over.

"_Naruto!_ What happened to you?! Come on, sit down, and let's have a look at you."

Iruka pulled Naruto by the arm over into the living room and, ignoring Kakashi as if he were no more than a part of the furniture itself, sat him down on the sofa, frown growing as he saw Naruto wince as his back hit the cushions.

He promptly began to fuss, tilting Naruto's head this way and that to inspect the damage, before rushing off to the kitchen, leaving a rather dazed Naruto behind him.

He only had a moment to recover however, before Iruka swept back into the room, a green box very much resembling a first aid kit grasped in his hands.

Naruto only started to weakly fight back when Iruka started to dab antiseptic-soaked cotton wool on his face, making it sting terribly.

"Iruka-sensei, hey, cut it out, I'll be fine, really- ow! Stop! That really stings- OW! Will you stop!"

Iruka ignored Naruto's grumbling and slight flailing with practiced ease and, having finished with the disinfectant, started to busy himself with some bruise cream.

Sighing with heavy resignation, Naruto went limp on the couch, and simply let Iruka get on with it, knowing from past experience that he wasn't going to stop until satisfied.

Iruka, as he gently lifted Naruto's sleeves to check on the state of his forearms, was inwardly seething. Who would _dare_ hurt Naruto this way?! And perhaps worse, how could _he_ have let this happen?!

And how had Naruto got into a fight in the first place?

Unfortunately for Iruka, this wasn't the first time Naruto had come to him limping, and needing the sensei to help mop him up. He had often gotten into scrapes with other boys, back in Konoha.

When they came to Tokyo, Iruka had hoped, perhaps naively, that he wouldn't have to do this again.

As Iruka pushed the blonde back against the sofa to help wrap some bandages around his wrists, he was surprised to see Naruto wince in pain, breath rushing out from between parted lips.

Eyes narrowing in suspicion, Iruka bypassed Naruto's vain attempts to brush it off and reached down to peel apart the front of the boy's shirt. He couldn't retain his gasp of horror at seeing the dark colours marring the skin.

Closing his eyes, Iruka gave a very restrained sigh.

"Naruto, you are going to tell me _everything_ that has happened, understood?"

Naruto faintly nodded and started to explain about the gang of older students who decided to beat him up that afternoon. His explanation was littered with pauses however, as the pain in his chest flared as Iruka prodded and poked, trying to identify if he had broken any ribs.

Up until now, Kakashi had remained silent, allowing him to stay seated not two feet from Naruto and yet remain completely innocuous.

He couldn't tell whether that amused him or whether he should feel offended in some way. Nevertheless, he took the opportunity to examine the boy who was Iruka's 'son'.

Blonde hair, blue eyes, tanned skin; if he cocked his head, he could almost appear girly. Or maybe that was just because his features were being gradually disguised behind bandages and gauze as Iruka continued his campaign against fight wounds

Kakashi also identified three symmetrical scars on either side of the boy's face, which looked suspiciously like whiskers; obviously a sign of the creature that was tucked away inside of him.

Kakashi couldn't help but sympathise with the boy slightly, as he saw him wince in pain as Iruka examined him thoroughly.

Though he wasn't entirely surprised that the boy got into trouble for being from katainaka; it wasn't an uncommon prejudice.

Finally, Iruka pulled back from Naruto and gave his final prognosis.

"Well, I don't think you've actually _broken_ anything, though I wouldn't be surprised if one of those ribs were cracked. I'm tempted to take you to the hospital," here he objectively ignored the blonde's shout of protest, "but I won't, considering you heal so quickly, there would be little point; you'll be fine in a few days. Knowing you, you'll be bouncing around in no time," he finished, muttering to himself as he packed the first aid kit away and threw the bloodied cotton swabs away.

Naruto sighed with relief and sat up, jerking his shirt closed again before Iruka-sensei decided to 'patch him up' anymore.

"Though," said Iruka contemplatively, "I do wonder how you got home, considering the state you're in."

He was shocked to see Naruto suddenly…blush?

Naruto turned his head away and mumbled something under his breath. There was absolutely _no way_ he would admit to owing that bastard anything! Especially when even he was confused about his thoughts on the subject.

Unfortunately for him, Iruka wouldn't take a half-hearted mumble as an answer and, in the way that made Naruto squirm; he fixed him with that 'look'.

"Eh, well, ano, you see…" he fumbled as he saw Iruka begin to get impatient.

"Well, actually, it was Sasuke, you know the bastard, uh yeah, he turned up and gave me a lift home," spat out Naruto in a rush, determinedly _not_ looking at Iruka, but rather finding the yellow-tinged floorboards incredibly fascinating all of a sudden.

He was interrupted from Iruka's answer to _that,_ however,when a choked laugh came from not two feet beside him.

"So it was Sasuke that helped you out huh? What did I tell you Iruka? Boys and their crush-"

"That's enough Kakashi!" cut across Iruka, who for some reason had rather pink cheeks.

Naruto on the other hand, just looked utterly confused.

"Eh? Ano, Iruka-sensei, who the hell this is?" he asked with a perplexed look to the strange man sitting on Iruka's couch.

Iruka suddenly appeared rather nervous.

"Oh yes, I never told you about Kakashi, did I? Well, Naruto, this is Hatake Kakashi, an-an old friend of mine, we knew each other from before I came to Konoha."

"Oh, right," said Naruto awkwardly, feeling very much out of the loop, and sure that there were many things that Iruka had left unsaid. Not to mention the fact that the brown haired man was unconsciously wringing his hands again, a sure sign that he was nervous about something.

Then again, this Kakashi seemed pretty strange as well, what with the mask covering his face and the headband covering his eye. Oh, and the weird, gravity-defying silver hair, too.

"Well," said Kakashi, catching onto the mood, "I'll just be going then, it seems like the two of you have a lot to talk about," _and I have a lot to talk about with Sasuke too_, he added mentally.

Ignoring Iruka's startled look at his sudden urge to depart, he casually moved to the door, and bid goodbye just as he was leaving, "Farewell Naruto-chan, Iruka-koi, ja!"

Kakashi couldn't help but smile as he heard Iruka's strangled yell of "Kakashi!" and what he presumed was Naruto's sputtering, until the boy began to laugh instead.

As he walked out onto the street, he couldn't stop a more malicious smirk from forming either; oh how he would enjoy speaking with dear little Sasuke-kun tonight.

Somewhere in the depths of his penthouse office, Sasuke felt the back of his neck prickle, suddenly feeling rather ominous.

* * *

**A/N: Oh my poor Naru-chan, how could i do that to your prett, pretty face? Ah, if only Sasuke could skip straight to being possesive and beat those guys up...Alright, Sasu and Naru have begun their way to hotness! And my plot develops, behold!**

**Teinousha-imbecile/moron-i felt like something different.**

**Katainaka-counrtyside/remote place.**

**Mmkay, next chapter will have more Sasuke and Kakashi, as well as some more school, and more progress on the couple front. The only thing left to say is PLEASE REVIEW:)**


	8. Invitations All Round

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

**A/N: Here it is, all written in one night,though there was trouble uploading earlier due to 'glitches'. Enjoy! And don't forget to review on anything at all!**

Warnings: Kakashi unleashed.

* * *

**Invitations All Round**

The dark sky rumbled overhead, the rains from the earlier afternoon announcing their return with relish. The orange glare of streetlamps bathed the streets and the milling crowds of the late rush hour huddled along, gripping coat fronts closed, and clutching umbrella handles in preparation.

Buildings rose high up into the skyline, large black shapes against the dim, purple tinged clouds, and little specks of yellow decorating them like fairy lights.

Way up high in the penthouse of the Uchiha Central Business Building, seated at his office chair, all metal and butter-soft leather, was Uchiha Sasuke, bent over as he surveyed the menial paperwork that had built itself up during school time hours.

Sifting through them with the ease of one well acquainted to such matters, Sasuke quickly filled out those of priority and merely skimmed through most of them, filling in the necessary.

A slight frown lingered on his face, however, that had little to do with work; the strange ominous feeling had not left him since this afternoon, and was by now becoming rather bothersome.

Mentally shoving such thoughts away under the label of 'counter productive', Sasuke continued scratching away on the various papers littering his desk, unheeding to the rhythmic tick of the clock that hung overhead, which echoed in the barely broken silence.

"Saaasuukkkeee-kuuun!"

Sasuke dropped his pen.

"Ah, there you are Sasuke-kun!"

Powering up his glare to scorching levels, the Uchiha swivelled sharply on his chair to give one of his most withering stares to the tuft of silver hair as Kakashi peered round the doorframe, a stupid smile making his eye curl up.

"What do you want, Kakashi?" snarled Sasuke, as the turned back around to his desk, intent to dismiss the other man as soon as possible.

"Maa, maa, Sasuke-kun, is that any way to talk to your guardian?"

Sasuke grunted but refused to turn around, instead bending over the papers lying out before him, trying to concentrate as much as possible on the fine type.

"You're not my guardian. I've been emancipated since I was fourteen."

"Ahh yes, you have, haven't you?" said Kakashi musingly, as he moved from the doorway to inside the office, though he still remained conspicuously near the exit.

Silence lay heavy over them both, Kakashi gazing seemingly uncaringly at the hunched figure of Sasuke, while the boy himself ignored him, intent on whatever was splayed out over his desk.

"I've been at Iruka's you know," stated Kakashi after several long moments, his voice sounding almost sly.

Sasuke lifted his head slightly.

"Iruka's…? Ah, he's that mate of yours isn't he," he paused, "though I don't know why you seem to think I have any desire to be informed of your own comings and goings, they are no concern of mine."

Kakashi most definitely sounded on the verge of gleeful now. He gave a one sided shrug.

"But wouldn't you know, he had a lot of very…_interesting_ information."

The Uchiha didn't deign him worthy of a response and shifted a stack of paper off into a tray, dragging yet more from beneath his chair. Kakashi was amused to identify it as chemistry homework.

Kakashi allowed himself to give an exaggerated sigh.

"Aa, I would have been able to get even more out of him, but…"he trailed off, knowing full well that it'd only make Sasuke even more curious than he already was; though the raven was admittedly hiding it rather well.

"But, well, poor, sweet Naru-chan came home so late, and he was in _quite_ the state too."

Kakashi paused in his tale to admire the effect; it really was quite exquisite.

Sasuke had completely frozen over his large desk, work lying forgotten beneath him, eyes as wide as an Uchiha's physiology allowed, which technically wasn't very much; their pupils tended to contract instead.

Sasuke finally turned his chair back to face Kakashi stiffly, dark eyes growing darker by the moment.

With the timing of a long time professional, Kakashi continued.

"My poor Iruka-koi, he was so worried and of course demanded that Naruto-chan tell us all about it. He was _quite_ curious about how he managed to get home."

"Kakashi…" growled Sasuke in warning, but Kakashi, after a lifetime of experience, forged on ahead.

"He said the most _astonishing_ thing, Sasuke-kun, about who was _kind_ enough to give him a lift home, I wonder if you know?"

"Kakashi!" said Sasuke, loosing his not-all-there-to-begin-with patience for the man, "Just say what you want to say and then be gone!"

Kakashi had the nerve to look offended in some way.

"Now, Sasuke-kun, you keep saying such _horrible_ things today…oh, _I_ know what it is."

Feeling his skin prickle with that ominous feeling once again, Sasuke observed the strange man opposite keenly, suddenly feeling very wary.

"And what is _it_…?"

Kakashi gave a full-blown grin of delight, though it was only possible to decipher it from the way his eye curled up.

"Well, dear Naruto-chan got quite injured, didn't he? Iruka said that he wouldn't be surprised if he cracked some of his ribs. Don't worry Sasuke- its perfectly natural for you to be upset when the person you care about is hurt, especially when you aren't around to-"

Kakashi cut himself off, as he felt the rearing of a rather dark aura originating from somewhere in close proximity. Further inspection confirmed his suspicions, as one glance at the Uchiha was enough to see that he was emitting enough _bad feelings_, as to freeze saltwater.

"Kakashi…" said Sasuke, his voice cold and unemotional, "Stop while you're ahead."

Kakashi took the advice with a faint smile, and held his tongue. He had learned over the years that Uchiha's could be a lot like dogs- they could smell fear. Luckily, during this time, he had also learned how to dodge over and about the line, while still maintaining his living state of being.

It was at this point, that Kakashi decided to move the conversation onto his real topic.

"You know, Iruka really did have some very…enlightening facts, that he was kind enough to share with me."

"Oh?" said Sasuke, a questioning look now replacing the death stare of a few moments ago. If Kakashi said things were useful, then they most certainly were.

"What about?"

Kakashi gave another one of his lopsided shrugs and moved off the wall to lean against the other leather swivel chair, the other side of the desk.

"Well, it was mostly about Naruto, but it throws some unforeseen facts to light, that we may have overlooked in our planning."

Sasuke felt something…_squirm_ in his stomach, as he recalled a glint of red eyes.

"I think I may already know something of what you speak."

Kakashi gave a small tilt of his head- his equivalent of a nod.

"So you know that Naruto is being…affected, then?"

"His eyes…" Sasuke gave only a small hesitation, "when I found him, they were red. I suppose he's of a lineage then?"

Kakashi gave a little laugh, though it sounded oddly strained.

"That's what I asked," he shook his head, "but no, he isn't."

At Sasuke's even stare, he elaborated, "He's a jinchuuriki."

Sasuke's eyes widened for the second time that evening, and he inhaled sharply as he fell back against the headrest of his chair. A jinchuuriki? That would release…yet, it was having _this _effect, unexpected that Naruto was holding onto the power…what sort of sealing did that entail, and how exactly, was that going to progress? He glanced to Kakashi, who he could tell by the serious look on his face, was thinking of the exact same things.

"Is this going to be a problem?" asked Sasuke softly into the silence.

"I'd have to take a look at the seal myself, but I shouldn't think so," said Kakashi at length, "so long as you two stop trying to kill each other, anyway. Though," he added slyly, " I think you can come up with other, equally _physical_ things to do, ne Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke gave another low growl of irritation, but refused to indulge Kakashi anymore with a reaction-that was what the man wanted after all.

Though, the fact that Naruto was a jinchuuriki, did explain some things, those strange whisker-like markings on his face for one.

And, thought Sasuke discomfortingly, why the boy seemed to…grate on his nerves so much; he had subconsciously recognised the youkai chakra, and had responded accordingly, as best to the modern day context as possible.

The very idea made Sasuke twitch internally.

"What sort of youkai does he hold, Kitsune?" asked Sasuke, somewhat curiously; Naruto had always irresistibly reminded him of a fox.

Kakashi gave another strained laugh, "Sharp as always Sasuke-kun, considering it is the Kyuubi no Youko sealed in there."

Sasuke stilled for a moment, but gave no other sign of his surprise.

"I see," he finally said, eyes lowering back to the papers on his desk.

Kakashi rummaged around in a back pocket, an orange book coming into sight.

"We really shouldn't worry- everything else is progressing with few hitches, and besides- even this is advantageous for us."

Sasuke nodded in response, already degrading the matter from 'potentially urgent' to 'further observation'.

"Gaara should be especially pleased about it, having another around," said Kakashi amiably.

"Gaara?!" said Sasuke sharply, sitting up in his chair.

"Oh, yes, didn't I mention? I believe he's waiting in reception right now in fact."

Kakashi found it inordinately amusing watching the youngest Uchiha start to curse and shuffle all his _papers _together, pressing on the intercom to snap at the secretary to 'send him in', only sparing a moment to glare untimely death to the scarecrow lounging in his office.

Kakashi couldn't help from chuckling.

* * *

Meanwhile, back over at Iruka's apartment, things had been stewing in a rather awkward silence ever since Kakashi left.

Iruka had been bustling about, to the kitchen, to his bedroom, back out to the living room and out again, while Naruto sat in the most comfortable position he could possibly manage on the sofa and was currently slugging his way through that day's homework.

It was a mark of Iruka's distraction that he didn't notice what Naruto was occupying himself with.

Naruto however, though he may not have been the most sociably observant, _had_ picked up on it.

He had no idea how to broach the subject in a manner that would put Iruka-sensei at ease though, nor how to get any information out of the man without him knowing it.

So, Naruto decided to stick to what he was good at; ask blunt questions and fluster Iruka that way.

"Ne, ne, Iruka-sensei, " Naruto spoke up after a while, "what was that…Kaja-Kaka- ano, weird, masked guy doing here anyway? Before I turned up I mean."

Iruka, who had been in the process of inspecting the windows, and the growing storm outside, jumped, startled. He had almost completely forgot that Naruto was there in the process of avoiding the upcoming discussion.

How on earth was he going to explain his tenable relationship with Kakashi? Would Naruto understand, would he be accepting that Iruka was in a long-term relation with a man? And if he did, would he get along with Kakashi, or would he resent the man for taking up his time, he'd read that children would often do that and he didn't know if-

"Eh, Iruka-sensei, are you okay?"

"Huh?" said Iruka intelligently, jerking himself out of his turbulent thoughts, to be met with the sight of a concerned Naruto, curled up on the couch, bandages all over and head tilted like an inquisitive fox.

Times like these, Iruka couldn't help but let the thought, _…kawaii…_drift through his mind.

"Oh, I'm just fine Naruto-kun," Iruka sat down to perch on the coffee table, "but I suppose I should explain about Kakashi, shouldn't I?"

Naruto nodded, though perhaps not with the enthusiasm he usually did; the movement would have hurt too much.

"Well," started Iruka, biting his lip, "I've known Kakashi for a long time, years. We…we were- very close. He was quite upset with me for wanting to leave for a year," Iruka laughed nervously, "He even forbid me to go, but I went anyway- and stayed away far longer than I expected."

Iruka sighed and glanced out of the far bay windows, gaze turning forlorn as the rumbles in the sky gave way to a flash of lightening.

"I hurt him very badly," whispered Iruka softly.

Naruto kept silent for once, as they both listened to the rain as it began to fall, much heavier than earlier, hitting against the glass windows with an incessant 'tap, tap'.

Iruka gave another sigh and turned back to Naruto.

"We were…very good friends Naruto," he said, voice becoming its usual strong tone.

Naruto nodded along, intently waiting for Iruka-sensei to continue.

Iruka hesitated a bit, nibbling on his lower lip again.

"We _are_ very good friends still. Naruto, do you understand what I'm trying to say?"

Naruto continued to nod slightly, before leaning in a bit closer to Iruka, "That," he licked his lips, "that you are…very good friends?"

Iruka leaned back and rubbed his closed eyes with his hands, determined not to let his groan of frustration to be voiced out loud.

He peered through his fingers to glance at Naruto, wondering if the blonde boy was merely making fun of him; he'd done it more than once before. But, no, Naruto was still sitting curled up, big blues eyes watching him attentively. Iruka swallowed as he saw how young Naruto appeared at that moment, plasters stuck on his face.

Iruka gave a small smile.

"Never mind, " he said softly.

"Eh? Iruka-sensei-?"

Iruka shook his head lightly, and in the process caught sight of the notes and textbook that Naruto had lain on his lap.

"Naruto, what _are_ you doing?" asked Iruka incredulously.

"Huh?"

Naruto had no idea what Iruka-sensei was referring to. Unsurprisingly perhaps, Iruka had the tendency to say that sentence quite often. He finally caught his sensei's gaze resting on the books clutched in his grasp.

"Oh? This? It's my homework for tomorrow."

Iruka spluttered.

"You're not going to _school_ tomorrow?!"

"Eh? Why not?" asked Naruto, this time just as disbelievingly as Iruka.

"Naruto," scolded Iruka, "surely you don't think you're in any state to go to school tomorrow, look at you! I'm sure it even hurts to move!"

Naruto scowled.

"Ano, Iruka-sensei, it'll take more than a few scratches to keep me down! By tomorrow I bet I'll be absolutely fine- and then I won't have an excuse to stay home will I?"

"I'm well aware of how quickly you heal, but I'm afraid I just _can't_ let you go out tomorrow in this condition," said Iruka, his warm brown eyes narrowing as Naruto stubbornly shook his head.

"But I wont be in this _condition _tomorrow, I'll be perfectly fine!"

"I think I'll be the judge of that."

Naruto huffed and sat back on the couch, skilfully hiding his wince as he did so. Iruka was being completely unreasonable. Che, and _he_ was supposed to be the rational one?

Iruka shook his head, a little confused that Naruto, _Naruto, _was arguing with him to actually _go_ to school. The whole situation was rather surreal.

Iruka sighed and glanced outside at the rain clouds, a dreary end to an extremely trying day.

"Listen, it's getting late, how about you go to bed, and we'll see how you feel in the morning, ne? And if you haven't done your homework, I'll excuse you from it, alright?"

He really had no other choice than to go along with Iruka's decision, and though it was really rather reasonable, it didn't stop Naruto from pouting, even as Iruka-sensei insisted on helping him to bed.

Perhaps it _would_ be better to avoid school tomorrow, and so Sasuke as well; he wasn't sure what he'd do when he saw the other boy again.

* * *

As it was, Iruka had his way; Naruto ended up staying two days from school, upon at which point Iruka had deemed him fit enough to return to Shichiyou. However, as Naruto grumbled under his breath, two days and even the bruises had nearly completely faded; Iruka was obviously exercising his pedantic tendencies again.

And then, there was a conveniently placed weekend, so Naruto didn't get back to school before Monday morning.

And this is where it leads; Naruto feverishly scribbling down all the past two days set work out of Hinata's homework diary, which she had handed over with a lot of strange blushing and not too many words. She was currently sitting next to him as he was pushed to near tears in frustration- how many assignments can you set in just two days?!- and her face was _still_ alarmingly red.

Naruto was slowly beginning to wonder whether if she was merely strange or if she actually had some type of medical condition. He'd decided himself too shy to ask.

Ironically enough.

He was still frantically copying at the speed of light when the warning rang out shrilly, making Hinata jump slightly.

"A-ano, are you s-sure you're g-going to be alright with a-all those to d-do, Naruto-kun?" asked Hinata softly, the tips of her fingers prodding together nervously.

"Just a sec, Hinata, I'll be done real soon, no sweat."

If Naruto had looked up from the book he was religiously bent over, he would have seen Hinata flush from strawberry pink to cherry red.

In all honesty, it was probably a good thing that he didn't see get to see it.

"Oi! Naruto, my man, where the hell have you _been?!_ I tried to call you, but I couldn't get through, you okay?"

Kiba had chosen that moment to bound on over as he came into Room 218, spotting Naruto immediately, the flash of blonde hair too bright for him to miss.

"Ah, yeah," said Naruto sheepishly, hand moving to the back of his neck in reflex, "I was sick on Thursday and then Iruka-sensei _insisted _I stay home Friday, and then it was the weekend, so, I guess we haven't seen each other for a while?"

"Nah man, we haven't. Hey…"

Kiba leant over the desk, looking over the explosion of papers and various textbooks on the desk, despite it all being upside down to him.

As soon as he recognised Hinata's neat handwriting, he burst out into laughter.

"Ha! So you're cribbing off Hinata eh? Poor, sweet Hinata, being used so badly by men. Shame on you Naruto!"

"Hey!" shouted back Naruto indignantly; "Hinata _offered _me her stuff by herself, 'cause she nice like that. I don't see _you _helping me, not that I'd really want you to, considering I actually want the _right _answers."

"A-ano," said Hinata uncomfortably.

Kiba's retort was cut short.

"Why, I think that may be the smartest thing you've ever said, usuratonkachi."

Naruto felt himself freeze, fervently wishing that for once, the person standing behind him were _another _emotionless bastard come to taunt him.

Slowly looking up, Naruto could see that his hasty prayers hadn't been answered.

Damn.

What was he supposed to say? Was the Uchiha expecting a thank you or something, or something else? Should he even acknowledge what happened last Wednesday? Should he and Sasuke start to…be less…unfriendly? Was that even a word?

Argh- right, when it doubt, go with what's comfortable.

"Teme…"

Impending Sasuke-crisis averted.

"Hn."

Just as Naruto was about to open his mouth to perhaps say something along the lines of anti-sociality and its negative impact on today's society, they were interrupted again, this time by Ino and Sakura as they rushed up to meet them.

Or rather, find out exactly why Naruto hadn't been in school. It was only friendly questioning and concern, but somehow, Naruto felt more as if he were under intense interrogation. He was glad when they got distracted when they finally realised that Sasuke was standing just two steps above them.

"Ah, Sasuke-kun, how are you today? Alright I hope…?"

"Ne, Sasuke-kun, you are coming on Saturday right, Sakura insisted that you were."

"Tch, I said I'd think about it, not that I'd actually go."

Sakura's hopeful look was crushed and her eyes dimmed slightly, while Ino spun around to glare at her. They were oblivious to other girls in the class, who were looking over both of them with envy, for actually getting Sasuke-kun to talk _back _to them. That hardly ever happened.

Naruto peered up confused.

"What party?" he asked unknowingly.

Ino glanced to Sakura in surprise before understanding dawned and she squealed, clapping her hands in excitement.

"Of course, you haven't been here, so you don't know."

Sakura leaned over to rest her elbows on the desk, and joined in.

"It's my friend's, Tenten's birthday. She's from the year above, but she's cool. We're throwing her a party this Saturday, my house, wanna come?"

A…party? Parties were fun right?

"Ano, I don't really know her or anything-"

"Don't worry about it, she's, uh, _friends_ with Neji. Besides, loads of people are coming."

Naruto was indecisive for a moment before, giving in.

"Yeah, sure, I'll come. Ano, why is it at your house, when its Tenten's birthday?"

"Ah," said Sakura, a mischievous glint in her green eyes, "that's because my parents are away this weekend."

"Eh," said Kiba, " I didn't know that."

Sakura shrugged, "Business trip. Or rather, my Otousan is on a business trip, and Okaasan doesn't trust him to go by himself."

This sent both Ino and Sakura into hysterics, while Kiba just looked on with a slightly disturbed expression on his face.

"Uh, yeah, right."

"I-it'll be nice, to s-see you there, N-Naruto-kun," spoke up Hinata from where she sat beside him, slightly forgotten in the conversation.

"Oh, you'll be there too Hinata?"

She nodded, "W-we're all g-going. Except maybe S-Sasuke-san."

This made the two recovering girls at the other end of the bench straighten, glinting eyes settling onto the stoic form of Sasuke yet again.

"Ne, ne, so will you come Sasuke-kun? It wouldn't be a party without you there, and you actually know Tenten too, so come on," whined Ino, grasping her hands together as if in prayer, or begging, her muted blue eyes pushed wide.

Sasuke showed no change in expression.

"I don't like going to parties."

"Oh come _on_ Saasuukee-kuuun, onegaishimasu!"

Sasuke remained silent and for one terrifying moment, Naruto almost thought that Sakura may get down on her knees, and cling until he gave in.

Perhaps Sasuke also recognised the danger signs, or perhaps he actually _did_ want to go, and was just being his usual, difficult self before.

At any rate, he replied.

"Tch, fine, stop nagging."

You could almost see how both Ino and Sakura perked up, eyes bright, and smiles wide.

Naruto, though he had earlier been very bothered by this sort of behaviour, had by now written this sort of behaviour off as 'normal', or as close to it as possible. Though still not seeing the whole 'thing' about _Sasuke-kun_, he just let it slide.

That was until he felt The Fear.

He locked gazes with Ino, just to have her break it, looking him up and down in a way that Naruto was quite _sure _he did not appreciate. Maybe because it resembled much like a cat would look at a served up mouse.

"Oh, I'm just so glad that you're coming! Its you first party right?" she didn't wait for his nod, "oh, you've gotta let me dress you up!"

Yes, The Fear was right there.

"Dress…up?" asked Naruto numbly, pointedly ignoring Kiba's painful wince of sympathy; he dimly noticed that said boy was slowly inching away from him.

"Oh, not like that, don't look so scared, it's your first time, so someone has to get you prepared."

"Uh…" said Naruto. Why did this sound as if he was getting ready for…well, something completely different? What, did they have _rules _for this kind of thing or something?

Ino must have recognised the complete confusion on his face, and promptly set out to rectify it.

"Oh, it's nothing bad or anything, just simple stuff, like what NOT to do, alright? It's not much- we can just meet up a bit earlier at Sakura's on Saturday all right. You know where it is? Good, come at about…ano…sixish? Yeah, it'll be fun."

And before Naruto could say anything else, the last bell rang, Kurenai-sensei sweeping into the room. All the students scattered from their clumps like leaves in the wind to their seats.

As he twisted on his stool, Naruto saw that Sasuke had long since departed; already seated on the other side of the classroom while others were still shuffling to their places.

"Uzumaki! What is all that mess on your desk? I can barely see poor Hinata over all of it, clean it up- immediately."

Naruto faced the front and sighed, before carefully arranging the mess of papers and books, and giving the appropriate ones back to Hinata, still in their neat order. As he handed them over, their hands brushed; Hinata's face burned.

Unbeknownst to Naruto, dark eyes from the other side of Room 218, were constantly flicking over to the front bench, incidentally where he and Hinata were seated.

Sasuke had never been more glad for form time to be over; he had to have words with Neji.

* * *

**A/N: I know what you're thinking, a party? How cliche, yeah? Well, this one is going to be a little different. It's going to be a REAL party. Let's just say that it'll get a _little _out of hand, and that this story is most definately rated M for a reason. If you've ever been to a 'real' party you know what i mean, i'll have a full list of warnings next chapter. Next chappy will have the party, which means it'll be LONG so updating may take longer, though i'm rather excited about it, so it may be faster, who knows?**

**Another thing, on my profile i have a POLL. After discussion with my Beta, i have two plots, one with Mpreg, and one without. Now, i know that some people really don't like it, so i decided in all my wisdom to put up a poll, so you can decide for yourself. So be sure to go to my profile and vote for what you want, ok? **

**Thats all for now, so hope you enjoyed this chapter, and don't forget to review to give my your opinion! Until next time, ja:)**


	9. The Party

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

**A/N: Heh, not so long a wait after all eh? I wrote all of this, over 7000 words in 7 hours in one night...my fingers were seriously aching, but with the help of my fabulous beta, i'm really pleased with this chapter, its probably my favourite one so far...so your thoughts on it will be much appreactiated:) **

Warnings: Eh right,...um,well, alchol, swearing, drugs, heavy sexual situtaions, blood, violence, nausea(seriously), prelude to rape, and um, i THINK thats it.

* * *

**The Party**

It was six o'clock. And it was Saturday.

And Naruto was currently standing nervously on the front steps at Sakura's house.

The week, as schooldays tend to do, had passed by both painfully slowly and disturbingly quickly. Naruto thought it may have to do with his mixed emotions; being both extremely excited and terrifyingly nervous at the same time.

He'd never been to a party before, and he was sure that this one wouldn't be anything like the small celebrations thrown back in Konoha for someone's birthday. Not that he had ever been invited to them of course, but sometimes, when feeling particularly melancholy, he had snuck round to see what all the fuss was about.

He swallowed heavily, and hesitantly reached out a hand to press on the doorbell.

Iruka-sensei had had a rather strange expression on his face when Naruto told him of his Saturday night plans. His eye's had glittered, as if he wasn't sure whether he was happy that Naruto had friends to invite him to such things, or worried about the sort of things Naruto could get up to.

He'd only been appeased when Naruto assured him that he wouldn't be staying the night over at Sakura's and that he'd be ultra careful. Of what, Naruto had no idea; it had just seemed like the right thing to say at the time.

It was early March, so by this time of night, the sun was well into its descent, colouring the skies a dusky pink, with a glare of orange on the horizon. He could even see the soft yellows shafts on the gleaming white paint of the front door.

He was briefly wondering whether to ring again, when the door was flung open, leaving Ino to be seen on the other side.

Naruto resisted the urge to step back; he had never seen that maniacal glint in her eye, not even over Sasuke.

"Ahh, Naruto-chan! You're here," she cooed, "well, no use standing about, come inside, come inside."

Before Naruto could even say a word, strong hands were already latching onto him painfully, and hauling him inside.

Sakura's house, Naruto quickly decided, was nothing like Iruka-sensei's apartment. For one, it was a self-contained building, not made up of apartments. It was much bigger too, with far more fanciful furnishings than Iruka's modest tastes. The carpets were all thick, but with incredibly fine weave, and everything was so…crisp, clean, new.

The house wasn't overly large however, with three, maybe four bedrooms at the most. Compared to Iruka's flat though, it was huge.

Ino said not a word to him as she dragged him through the house, and by the time they came to a halt, Naruto was annoyed to see that the girl still hadn't relieved the death grip on his arm.

He was even more disgruntled as he was practically _thrown _onto a white, plush sofa, and Ino merely stood a few steps away, surveying him with glittering eyes.

Naruto opened his mouth to express his indignation at this manhandling, but was pre-empted.

"Ah!" aid Ino, brandishing a scolding finger, "Just sit there patiently, we have to wait for Sakura before we can begin, it's her party after all."

Naruto frowned in confusion.

"I thought it was Tenten's birthday?"

Ino sighed and rolled her eyes in something akin to exasperation.

"_Yes,_ but Sakura's hosting, so technically its _her _party, and she makes up the rules, okay?"

Naruto merely nodded, not fully understanding, but unwilling to antagonise the female before him anymore than he had to.

They waited in stiff silence, Naruto feeling highly uncomfortable, and Ino checking her nails, and huffing loudly every now and then.

It was perhaps the longest five minutes of his life, and he was never gladder to see pink hair.

Sakura gave a small smile as she breezed into the room, joining Ino in standing a few feet in front of him.

The Fear returned, as both girls gave him appraising looks.

"What do you think Sakura, how bad is it?"

Sakura "hmmm"-ed thoughtfully, green eye's narrowed as she let her gaze trail over his frame, his clothes and his face. She settled in peering intently into his eyes.

Naruto blinked, nonplussed.

"Well…" she said slowly, "we have one hour, so we'll have to be quick about it- best to divide the job between us I think."

Ino nodded.

"Yeah, he has such naïve eye's doesn't he? Well, how about you get him cleaned up, and I'll talk to him?"

"Alright."

And they were off, Sakura hurrying out the room once again, disappearing off up the stairs, while Ino moved forwards to sit beside him on the sofa.

"Now, Naruto," she said seriously, twisting him around by the shoulders until he faced her head on, "I don't know what you expect, but please, do try _not_ to be a naive idiot, alright?"

"Eh?"

Ino heaved another sigh of exasperation, biting her lip.

"Look, I'll just give you a quick rundown of the do's and don'ts, and you don't question them, okay?"

Naruto, feeling incredibly lost, merely nodded, distracted slightly by the reappearance of Sakura, though it was only brief, her moving to the sofa, pulling him up to standing, steeping back a few paces and then sizing him up through her fingers. After a few moments contemplation, she nodded satisfied, and disappeared. Ino pulled him back down.

"Right, where to start?" asked Ino.

The maniacal glint was back.

"Ano," coughed Naruto nervously, "when is everyone else coming?"

"Well, its starts at seven, but we don't know for sure when everyone will turn up after that. Some may be earlier, others later-it _is_ Saturday, and people may have other things to do."

Naruto glanced to the clock on the opposite wall. Forty-five minutes and counting; he could do this.

Sakura chose that moment to return, carrying a basket of miscellaneous…_things,_ and a pile of clothing draped under over one arm.

Wait- was that eyeliner?!

Oh dear.

* * *

"Sakkuuuraaaaa!"

"What Ino?!"

"The door bell's going!"

"Then open it up, you pig! Can't you see I'm busy here?"

Ino smirked, a malicious glint in her eye.

"Fine then, I just hope it'll be Sasuke-kun waiting for me."

Sakura snorted, an action that seemed very out of place when she was all dressed up in pink and black, heels and glittering eye shadow.

"Just go open the damn door Ino, you know perfectly well that Sasuke-kun would _never_ be the first one here," she sighed in a way scarily reminiscent of 'dreamy', "he will always arrive at the same time- 'perfectly late'."

Fearfully, Ino seemed to share the same exact expression.

"Uh, the door?" asked Naruto timidly, as the silence stretched on for _far _too long.

Ino looked surprised, before muttering an embarrassed, "Oh, right," and left to see to the guests.

Sakura meanwhile, was making her final touches. It had been over forty minutes of torture so far, and Naruto couldn't help but blush slightly as she kept fiddling with his hair; he found the sensation very relaxing.

It wasn't long before the door to the living room burst open, and a group of people came spilling in. Looking up, he saw that it was Neji, a girl with chocolate eyes and wearing a rather beautiful Chinese style dress, and another boy, who was-…were they…eyebrows?!

Sakura also looked up when they came in, her gaxe fixing on the girl.

"Tenten! Here already! Psyched up about your birthday?"

The girl, now identified as Tenten- Naruto couldn't but feel bad, it was _her_ birthday, and he didn't even know what she looked like- snorted, though a bit more delicately than Sakura had, and folded her arms, leaning on a hip.

"I'm not sure how fun this night's gonna be Sakura, I'm already in a bad mood, but then," she added, "having to share a half-hour car ride with _Lee,_ is taxing on anyone."

"Tenten!" said the…boy, who was perhaps the strangest Naruto had _ever_ seen. Ever.

"You should not be so unhappy, it is your birthday after all, like Gai-sensei would say, it is the ultimate celebration of Youth! You must not squander such a lovely time, Tenten!"

Naruto watched in morbid fascination, as…Lee, accompanied his speech with forceful arm movements, and- oh god, he'd been so distracted by the eyebrows, he hadn't noticed the green…ness clinging all over him.

"Lee…" muttered Neji coldly from the side, "just…shut up."

Naruto thought that Lee would have looked a bit hurt, considering his friend had just been so cold, but then again, Neji was much from the same mould as Sasuke, so on reflection, he was probably used to it.

"Ah! Sakura-san! You are looking as beautiful as always!"

Lee took her hands in his. Naruto blinked, when had he moved?!

Sakura gave a high-pitched laugh, which sounded incredibly nervous, and even though she was blushing, Naruto had the unshakeable thought that it wasn't in a good way, for Lee at least.

"Lee," acknowledged Sakura, as she deftly removed her hands.

"Ah, but Sakura-san! Who is this most lovely looking friend of yours?"

It took Naruto a few moments to realise that he was talking about him.

"Hey!" shouted Naruto indignantly, face flushing with embarrassment as he stood up, "I am NOT a girl!"

"Yes," muttered Ino dryly, "We can all see that."

Naruto whirled around, and pointed at her threateningly.

"Oi! Don't think I won't hit you just because you're a girl, Ino!"

"Of course you would," said Neji from beside the door, "you have no manners."

"Hey!" Naruto yelled yet again, this time at Neji. Was everyone against him today or what?

Sakura sighed, irritated that it was only five minutes in, and Naruto was already on the verge of a fight, he was nearly as bad as Kiba!

"Naruto, sit down, just because you're boy, doesn't mean you cant look nice, or take compliments, and Tenten, this is Uzumaki Naruto, Naruto this is Tenten."

It felt inordinately strange to be introduced at _her_ _own _birthday party, but nevertheless, Naruto managed a grinning nod in her direction, along with a small wave.

He felt incredibly relieved when her previously hard stare softened upon seeing him, though he was returned back to Fear, when her eye's twinkled suspiciously.

"Awww, kawaii! What did you two do to him!"

Tenten bounded over to sit beside him on the sofa, which was quite the feat considering the restraining nature of her clothing, but she did it anyway. She instantly took his hands and inspected them, turning them over and feeling the palms.

"Ano…" muttered Naruto, feeling very awkward for obvious reasons. What was this girl doing?!

"Tenten, please stop touching Naruto like that, most people would think of it has indecent," said Neji sternly from by the door.

"Neji, I'm just looking at his hands," she scoffed, "I've never seen such a good tan, is all. Is this natural?"

The last was directed to Naruto, who panicked slightly, how was he meant to answer that ?! He gave a quick glance over his shoulder to Sakura, who merely nodded sagely.

"Uh, yeah, I guess it is."

Tenten sighed mournfully.

"Some people get all the luck…"

Naruto prayed fervently for someone, something, anyone, to get himself out of this odd, odd position. Tenten still had his hands, _and she wouldn't let go!_

Thankfully for everyone, the doorbell rang out again, and the sudden noise was enough for Tenten to release him, and move off the couch.

"I'll get it!" shouted Sakura quickly, and she hastily ran out of the room.

Naruto shuffled closer to Ino in her absence. Who knows if Tenten would return to…touch him again?

Far better to avoid her if possible for the rest of the night, even if it _was_ the scary woman's birthday.

Sakura came back swiftly, a whole small crowd following. A quick glance showed it to be Kiba, who was bouncing on the balls of his feet excitedly, Shino who looked, as usual, completely stoic behind sunglasses, and lastly Shikamaru, and a boy who Naruto vaguely recognised as Choiji.

Oh, and Hinata, who was hidden behind all the boys, and was nervously skirting around Neji, eyes fixed to the floor. Before he knew it, she was sitting next to him, well, on the same sofa at least, she was quite far away.

"Bonsowa-ru, N-naruto-kun," she whispered shyly, "you-you l-look very n-nice tonight."

She flushed near crimson and quickly darted her gaze to the floor, obviously finding the carpet of the utmost interest.

Naruto, despite knowing that Hinata only held the sincerest of intentions, couldn't help but groan out loud.

"I doubt I look like _I _want to though, Ino and Sakura went a little weird in my opinion, and Ino kept telling me the strangest things the whole way through-I didn't understand half of them, but she told me to just shut up and obey them anyway."

Hinata blushed even more than she had done, and started to prod her fingers together, wondering frantically what else to say.

"Oi, Naruto man, nice to see you survived with Ino and all, I was half worried that they'd put you in a dress or something!"

"Kiba," growled Naruto, "don't even _speak _about things like that- it is far too disturbing an image to even contemplate."

Unfortunately, Kiba seemed to find this uproariously funny, and started laughing; loudly. Naruto scowled, and turned his head away. Maybe Kiba was drunk already? Naruto couldn't exactly be sure if he was or not; he hadn't been in contact with many intoxicated people before, though Ino had assured him he would see it tonight.

She had also advised him not to drink too much, considering Iruka had strictly forbidden it of him before. Apparently this would make him a 'lightweight', and it would be best to try to stay sober. The way Ino had said it, Naruto was inclined to agree with her, especially as he held some guilt for wanting to indulge in alcohol at all; Iruka had never given him permission, and Iruka never forbid things without reason.

And it also may have had _something_ to do with the time he had found one of the elder's discarded sake bottles and got a little _curious._ It had burned its way down his throat, and scoured his taste buds, though he still drank the entire thing regardless.

He faked illness to Iruka-sensei the next day. It hadn't been that hard, considering he had a plenty enough vomit in his bin to prove it, not to mention the throbbing headache. Iruka-sensei had fussed appropriately, increasing his guilt, since he _hadn't _suddenly contracted some overnight illness.

He jerked, startled as he felt someone wrap an arm about his shoulders. Snapping his head to the side, he recognised the person as Kiba. For some reason, the touch prickled, almost unpleasantly. Naruto wrinkled his nose slightly, that had never happened before…

He was interrupted from his train of thought once more as another group of people entered the living room, it was starting to get really crowded…he didn't even hear the doorbell ring.

"Hey, I'm gonna go get some drinks okay, want some?" asked Kiba.

"Uh, yeah sure," mumbled Naruto at Kiba's expectant look. He could just sip or something…

* * *

Sakura wrinkled her nose in disgust as she heard the wet 'slap' of vomit hitting plastic.

The party was in full swing, alcohol flowing, music blaring and her stuck on a sofa next to a very unwell Hinata, rubbing her back as she kept throwing up.

She glanced about herself hopelessly; she couldn't see anyone else she knew in the room. Not that that said much, she couldn't see much of anything. It was dark, with the only light coming from lamps, making the light musky and dim at best.

The stench of vodka and something that had to be urine, hung over the rooms like smog, and the close proximity of the bucket Hinata was currently leaning over didn't help.

A…few more people had turned up than she had previously thought. It seemed word had travelled further than she had anticipated. The living room had become a gyrating throng of people and bodies, the music enough to burst eardrums.

She was stuck in an island provided by the furniture, and was cut off from everyone else. Where was everybody? She hadn't seen a single one of them in over half an hour! It was her house, her responsibility, and she didn't know what the _fuck _was going on, anywhere!

She hushed Hinata once more as she heard the sound of echoing plastic from below. Her face scrunched in loathing as a nameless man fell half onto her shoulder, slurring nonsense under his breath, which had the added revulsion of smelling foul. She shrugged him off with hard shove and he stumbled off.

"Sakura!"

She spun her head round, pink hair that had come unravelled from her styling swinging with her to hit against her cheek.

"Ino!" she called out with relief.

She watched as the blonde haired girl squeezed her way through the crowd, occasionally pushing someone out of her way forcefully.

"There you are Sakura, I've been looking for you for ages. I think- I think things…may have gotten out of hand-"

"Things are fine Ino!" said Sakura firmly, though her voice was high.

Ino gave her a mild glare, hands resting on hips.

"I wouldn't call _this _fine- is that _Hinata_?!"

Sakura gave a hesitant glance to the girl next to her, who was still huddled over the bucket, breathing thickly.

"Yeah, it is," said Sakura nervously.

"Shit," exclaimed Ino, "how did she get so bad, she doesn't even drink much?!"

"Yeah, but she's a right lightweight isn't she?"

Ino glanced about nervously, "We'd better not let Neji see her like this, he'll tell her father for sure. And get pissed at us himself," she added plaintively.

Sakura glanced about herself as well, as if expecting Neji to appear at any moment. Though, for all she knew, he could.

"Can we move her to the bathroom?" asked Sakura, sounding strained as she pulled Hinata's hair back as she retched again.

Ino shook her head, and when she spoke, her voice was equally stressed.

"No, Haku and Kin are in there."

"What?!" shouted Sakura, "They've been in there for over an hour! What the fuck are they doing in there?!"

"Yeah, well," said Ino uncomfortably, glancing at her stilettos, "You know how much they like their…_needles_."

Sakura blinked before realisation sparked in her green eyes.

"Oh _no_!" she gasped, "My parent's would absolutely _freak_ if they knew that happened in the house, oh shit! They better fucking clean up after themselves, shit!"

Sakura closed her eyes, and tilted her head to face the ceiling.

Ino shifted uncomfortably next to her once more.

"Have-have you seen Naruto anywhere?" asked Ino timidly.

Sakura's eyes snapped open, and she glanced about almost fearfully.

"Fuck no," she whispered, " I haven't seen him since the beginning of the party- oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit-"

"Sakura," snapped Ino, grabbing the girl's shoulders in her grip, and making her face her.

"Calm down, okay?"

"I can't _calm down," _said Sakura, sounding nearly hysterical, "have you forgotten who Naruto lives with? If Naruto doesn't come back safe and sound, Iruka-sensei- one of our _teachers_, is actually going to _kill_ us."

Ino paled, "No," she whispered, thinking of all that Iruka could make hell for them at Shichiyou- it was a prestigious school, they frowned upon this sort of thing.

Sakura nodded numbly along with Ino's prognosis, thinking exactly the same thing.

"Shit, I haven't seen him about either, it shouldn't be this hard, hardly anyone else has such bright hair, for fuck's sake," proclaimed Ino, wringing her hands together in agitation.

Just then, another nameless boy came rushing up to them, flushed and sweat clinging onto his t-shirt. Ino vaguely recognised him as someone in their year. This evaluation was confirmed when he spoke to Sakura by name.

"Sakura-san, do you know where's there's any salt?" he asked hurriedly.

Sakura looked at him blankly, but responded automatically.

"Kitchen, top cupboard on the right as you walk in-why?"

But the boy had already left, leaving Sakura to stare after him in puzzlement, before gasping in horror.

"Oh fuck, don't tell me someone's overdosed?!" If she had to call an ambulance just because someone had been a complete and utter idiot, she would undisputedly be doomed- her parents would find out! Though at the rate things were going, she probably would be found out anyway.

Ino went white, and quickly pushed her way past several people to catch a glimpse of what was going on. She sighed, and shuffled back to Sakura.

"No, they just spilled some wine."

"On my carpet?!" asked an anxious Sakura.

Ino levelled her with a flat look.

"I think that we should just be happy that they're at least trying to clear it up- this is the _least_ of your problems right now."

Sakura rubbed at her eyes tiredly, and glanced at the clock- she was frustrated to see that it wasn't there anymore.

"Ino, what's the time?"

"Ano…coming up to midnight, why?"

Sakura merely sighed, her green eyes dull, and looked about her hopelessly.

Ino, would you please try to find Naruto for me?" she asked resignedly.

Ino didn't look impressed. "And why should I, Sakura? It's _your _party after all. You should be looking after _your _guests."

"Don't fuck with me right now Ino, fine, _don't_ find Naruto, but would you please at least make sure Neji hasn't left yet?"

"Why?" asked Ino suspiciously, arms folded over her backless halter-top.

Sakura groaned with frustration, "_Because,_ if Neji has left, we have no way of getting Hinata home, and if he hasn't then we need to distract him until Hinata has sobered up enough, got it?"

Ino surveyed Sakura for a long while, her muted blue eyes critical.

"I'll go and distract Neji, _if_, you admit that this whole thing's gotten out of hand."

"Ino," said Sakura brokenly as her head bent to stare over Hinata's back, "please, not now. You can say whatever you want later, but just-…not now, yeah?"

Ino could see the tears beginning to well up, and she decided that her friend was in enough disarray, without smearing her makeup with tears too. She sighed heavily.

"Fine, fine, I'll go, let's just hope things don't get any worse, ne?"

And with that, Sakura watched as Ino slipped back into the crowd, weaving past sweaty bodies and dancing people; she lost sight of her within seconds.

She jumped as she heard a crash from upstairs, and whipped her head around to the window, where she distantly saw some glass tumble down onto the dark, dewy grass. She blankly turned back around and rubbed Hinata's back.

She was never hosting a party again.

* * *

Naruto stumbled into the wall as a couple, who appeared to be entwined at the mouth, jostled past him. He clung onto the wall desperately and pulled himself further along, desperately wishing to find someone, anyone, who he knew.

He was no longer aware of the time, though he was sure that is was several hours later from when he had first lost Kiba. Last he had seen, the boy had lost his shirt and was slinging back his sixth beer before joining in the dance again. If you could call _that_ dancing.

Naruto thought it had more in common with animals, rather than people.

He has since lost sight of everyone, which he was finding to be increasingly distressing. Especially as many of the people here either ignored him, or gave him strange looks that made him incredibly uncomfortable. It had made him greatly desire to punch most of them in the face.

In an effort to get away from most of the crowds, he had earlier made his way upstairs, which he had quickly discovered to be a mistake. Things were even worse up here. He was afraid to touch anything, and moving through the hallways was a slow process, as the ground was littered with bottles, and around the bathroom, he had had to navigate several discarded needles.

Just being in the house was an unpleasant experience; it absolutely stank of strong alcohol, piss and something else corrosive that tickled his nostrils unpleasantly. He desperately wanted to breath through his mouth, but had the impression that that would be _worse_, and then he'd be breathing in all this crap unfiltered. The thought made him gag.

Not that he hadn't retched already.

Not much earlier, he had tried to hide out in one of the bedrooms, in hope that it wouldn't be quite so bad, and that he could wait it out for a while, and when there was less people, he could make a break for it and try to find someone he knew.

Well, that had been the plan; he had walked in and seen something that he was sure he never wanted to see again. There had been…. several people, missing clothing and more than one were on the bed doing…things. Naruto hadn't hung around to find out exactly what and had 'eep'-ed and fled the area.

He could still hear the groans echoing down the hallway.

Hunching to make himself as small as possible, he sidestepped a man who was pissing on a wall, liquid soaking into the carpet below.

Wrinkling his nose, Naruto made a quick dash to the stairs, and swallowed in anxiety. Lots of people were blocking the staircase, in a variety of different ways, and he would have to get past them. He couldn't even crawl down the banister, as people were leaning all over that as well.

He held in a breath as he started to make his precarious way down, dodging over people's legs, and occasionally having to forcefully push his way past them. He tried not to think that he had to touch them; it made him feel awfully uncomfortable; and not just for the obvious- he was getting the same weird prickling feeling off of them as he did with Kiba earlier, though this sensation was slightly different; this one almost _hurt_.

He came to halt halfway down, where the passage became impossible to navigate. About four people had seemingly joined together to form one single mass; the only way down would be to climb over them. And that wouldn't exactly be pleasant. Especially as he saw what one or two or them were doing; it involved hands and unzipped jeans. Feeling some bile rise in his throat, Naruto braced himself for the plunge.

With as much speed as possible, he flung himself forward and managed to tumble over them, with minimal contact, and stumble down the remaining stairs. He didn't wait to hear the disgruntled shouts, and hurriedly pushed his way through the horde, using his hands to make space. The acrid smell of vomit washed over him as he passed by the kitchen, and Naruto suddenly knew that he just had to get out.

The taste of the one beer from earlier was making him want to heave, and the overwhelming incessant _heat_ of the house, the thumping of the music, was making the world spin and tilt and he stumbled against a doorjamb painfully. The surrounding people seemed to close in on him, making him loose the struggle against the claustrophobia.

He had to get out.

Outside. Outside. Now.

Naruto pushed himself off the wall, and ignoring the pain, and the way the floor tilted alarmingly he managed to make his way to the back of the house and lurched out of the French doors and into the delightfully cool back garden.

There were less people here, though still far too many. It was cold though, and it stung blissfully against the flush on his cheeks. And it didn't reek either, Naruto thought gloriously as he inhaled large gulps of 'clean' air.

In the dark, all he could make out was the patio and a slim stone wall, along with dewy grass and then indistinguishable bushes. It was lighter than it should have been though, considering it was almost a full moon tonight, and there were no clouds to obscure the subsequent extra light.

His eye line, however, was drawn to a slim, elegant figure perched upon the stone wall, staring up to the sky, the moonlight illuminating his pale skin so it almost _glowed_.

It was such a contrast to the past few hours that Naruto couldn't help but simply stop and stare.

* * *

There was a reason that Sasuke didn't go to parties, and this one, was a perfect example of _why. _

He didn't even know why he had agreed to come in the first place, it wasn't as if it was Neji's birthday, it was Tenten's, who was barely an acquaintance, being a friend of _Neji's_.

Not him.

He loathed parties. Even the formal ones, though at least those only disgusted his own sense of morality, rather than actually being physically repulsive. A lot more girls here actually _did_ try to get into his pants, and some were quite literal in their attempts.

He had quickly escaped to the garden, absently wondering why he didn't just go home; all he had to do was walk out the front door.

Though, he supposed thoughtfully, such events were always good to see people lose their inhibitions. In most cases of course, the result was mostly horrifying; like watching a car crash and _then _seeing the mutilated bodies afterwards. But on occasion, it could be very useful.

For one, Sasuke had felt delicious joy at briefly seeing Hinata positioned over a bucket, looking rather worse for wear. He had no sympathy- she should have known her own limits by now.

Though mostly, he just felt a general abhorrence for the situation. People puking everywhere, you getting so drunk yourself that _you also_ decorate someone else's house in regurgitated alcohol, the pain of the next day, the loss in control over your own actions.

Frankly, Sasuke couldn't see why anyone would _want _to do it. And that wasn't even getting started on all the other _activities_ that people got up to. He could hear the groaning coming from upstairs from here.

Sasuke diverted his attention, and glanced up at the sky. The moon was bright, bright enough to illuminate the settling dew on the grass below his feet.

The only thing that disturbed the scene was the thrum of music from the house, and the rustling in the bushes not too far away, which was accompanied by interspersed giggling and groans.

He vaguely wondered where Naruto was; he had heard that he was going to be here; no doubt the boy was traumatised. The dobe was so naïve after all.

Sasuke sighed imperceptibly as he gazed skyward. He really should probably just go; he had been here far long enough.

He was just about to get up and leave when he felt a gaze resting heavily on his back. Titling his head slightly, his dark eye's settled on blue.

He told himself that the intake of breath was merely from surprise, and nothing more.

Though he couldn't deny that Naruto most definitely looked better tonight than he did in his school uniform. Jeans, vintage t-shirt and scuffed shoes- he didn't look very different. But his eye's had been outlined in eyeliner, making the blue stand out even more than usual, and the moonlight had made his golden hair glint almost silver.

And the lost expression on his face, made Sasuke nearly buckle under the urge to think of the blonde as 'cute'. He resisted, however, and word wasn't uttered, not even in his mind.

Naruto had been staring almost in awe of the figure on the wall, when the man had tilted his head enough for him to make out his features, which were just as well illuminated as his skin.

He recognised them; it was Sasuke.

The person he had just been thinking of as unearthly attractive had turned out to be Sasuke! Well…actually, he shouldn't be so surprised, even he had to admit there was a reason for Sasuke to have so many girls after him; and it certainly wasn't for his personality.

Nonetheless however, Naruto felt himself blush. Thankfully it was dark, and his complexion was a great help in covering such embarrassing things up.

He watched warily as Sasuke slid himself off the wall upon seeing him, and came to standstill no more than a few feet away.

"Usuratonkachi," he greeted.

"You know, that _isn't _my name," said Naruto through gritted teeth.

Sasuke merely shrugged, uncaring, and let his gaze slide over the blonde's frame, noting absently the way he was hunched slightly, as if trying to make himself as unnoticeable as possible. For some reason, the vulnerable posture made him…irritated. He ruthlessly pushed such a thought down deep.

"Hn, I'm surprised to see you here dobe, I would have thought you would have fled long ago."

Naruto shook with rage, why the hell did he always have to insult him, every single time!?

"Teme, I'm not some coward!"

Sasuke surveyed with those dark eyes, the ones that made Naruto lose his anger and squirm uncomfortably instead, making him want to clam up even more. He almost felt as if the bastard could read his mind sometimes.

"Tch, I know _that, _but I would have thought you were too innocent to stay for long, that's all."

Sasuke didn't quite know why he was saying this, but then again, somewhere in his head, it made sense, so therefore, it was a reasonable thing to say. It wasn't as if he hated Naruto or anything anyway. He was merely being truthful.

Naruto frowned slightly, caught off guard by Sasuke all of a sudden. He really just couldn't figure the other out. He would often say something, and then do something that contradicted it. Or maybe, just contradicted Naruto's expectations of a guy like Sasuke.

What sort of guy was Sasuke again?

"Eh," said Naruto nervously, "well, I guess this is my first party, I-I didn't think it would be quite like _this._"

Sasuke snorted, in his own Uchiha way of course.

"Che, I wouldn't expect you to, though this _is_ a bad one- Sakura's let this get completely out of hand."

Sasuke tilted his head to the side slightly, causing the silky bangs on one side of his face to flutter gently against his cheek. Naruto felt his eye's unconsciously follow the movement.

"Though, I would have expected you to be among those idiots who drink too much and then pass out in the flowerbed."

Naruto couldn't help but snort, not quite as dignified as Sasuke.

"People actually do that?"

As a response, Sasuke merely pointed, managing to express all his disdain in one motion.

Naruto gave him a curios look but moved a bit closer, so as to lean over to peer to the side.

And indeed, lying among the shoots of spring daffodils was an identifiable figure, snoring gently.

Naruto blinked, and turned back to Sasuke.

"Oh."

"That surprised?"

"Only that it isn't Kiba," admitted Naruto.

Sasuke felt the horrendous urge to…laugh. It was a foreign sensation, one that he hadn't felt since… he was a small child to be truthful. Of course he wouldn't actually laugh out loud but well, the corners of his mouth may have turned up slightly. It was hard to tell when he was smirking like that.

"Oh, I'm sure he's around somewhere dobe, most likely in a far more embarrassing situation. He can be more of an idiot than you."

"Hey! I am not an idiot, yarou!"

"Of course not," muttered Sasuke, while rolling his eyes.

Naruto growled, and glared at the insufferable bastard. There he goes again, they were sort of getting along, and then he says _that_!

Sasuke appeared as always, completely unaffected by Naruto's protests.

However, neither realised quite how close they'd gotten to each other during the conversation. It really was utterly precise timing when someone stumbled into the garden from behind them, pushing past them to vomit onto the grass.

Naruto stared ahead with wide eyes; however, all he could see was equally surprised dark irises. Naruto absently noted that Sasuke's eyes weren't all black, just the pupil and around the edge, the rest being a very dark grey.

He felt a soft sensation, gently pressing against his lips; his nose brushing softly against Sasuke's, the touch sending not prickles this time, but tingles instead.

He stood there for another few moments, in his shock finding the feeling almost rather nice. Then he blinked, and reality crashed in.

With a choked cry he sprang back, which seemed to bring Sasuke back as well. Feeling oddly scandalised, Naruto looked at Sasuke, to see him staring at him. He promptly blushed as realisation set in.

He had just kissed Sasuke! Uchiha Sasuke, who was perhaps the biggest anti-social bastard he had ever met. It didn't matter if it had been an accident, lips had still met with lips; a small nudge from the person who ran past, just enough to tip him forward and land like that on Sasuke! His mind flittered between panic and confusion.

For, unlike every other touch that night, it hadn't felt uncomfortable, but instead, quite the opposite.

He felt his stomach contract in mortification, and blushing heavily, he gave a small "eep!" and ran off back into the house, before Sasuke could fully come back to his senses and probably beat him into the ground. Either that, or _Naruto_ would do it if he remained standing there for just another minute.

Sasuke watched Naruto disappear back through the French doors with a detached expression. Had he just…?

He slowly drew up a hand to touch slightly at his own lips, who had just mere moments ago, been attached to Naruto's. He was more than a little disturbed to find that it _almost _tingled. Of course, his outward expression showed none of this, and he resisted the incoming urge to lick his lips, to rid them of the sensation; then he'd probably taste the baka too!

Lowering his fingers, Sasuke turned to glare pure poison at the creature lying on the grass, surrounded by his own vomit. Sasuke had the strange desire to snarl at the boy, but refrained, finding himself oddly out of sorts.

It made him confused. Sasuke did not like being confused.

Not one bit.

Especially since his heart was racing, and a bout of foreign emotion was welling up in his mind like a tide. He had half the urge to go and find Naruto again, and he had no idea why.

He felt frustration well up, at not understanding his own thoughts and restrained the need to growl.

Instead, he merely fixed his cold glare up to freezing and moved to enter the house; he had definitely stayed for far too long.

However, Sasuke didn't get very far. He soon stopped short as he entered the hallway and took in the scene. It involved Naruto being pushed, _hard_, up against a wall, by someone much bigger than him. Naruto didn't seem to be appreciative, he was squirming and the man's hands were starting to wander.

Naruto's t-shirt lifted up slightly, revealing a sliver of tanned skin. He heard a whimper.

Sasuke saw red.

* * *

Naruto wasn't entirely sure how it had happened. He had rushed inside after…. kissing Sasuke, and, due to his mind being far, far away, he hadn't exactly been looking where he was going. Not the best of ideas but, hey, no one else seemed to be either.

It was unfortunate for Naruto that he bumped into the man he did. He was about a foot taller than he was, and far more filled out; a man.

Who had seemingly ingested more than enough vodka, if the smell was correct.

Wrinkling his nose, Naruto had tried to push him away, but was anxious to see that he didn't get anywhere. He glanced up at the man still holding onto him, taking in the not-so bleary eyes, and the strange glint in them.

He felt fear sink all the way down his throat and settle heavily in his stomach. He tensed, and managed to hold in his cry of pain as he was roughly pushed up against the wall. Music was still beating out from the living room, covering up any protest he would have made, and the other people that littered the hallway didn't even seem to notice.

The painful prickle was back, but this time, Naruto was far more concerned on other matters. Like the heavy breathing on his neck, that made him shudder in revulsion, causing him to try to squirm away.

However, unfortunately for him, the unidentified man was much stronger than him, and merely tightened his grip on Naruto's arms, effectively pinning him to the wall. Naruto felt himself begin to panic, as he felt hands wander lower.

Oh, shit, oh shit, oh shit.

This-this wasn't right. Not right at all. He renewed his squirming.

He was breathing shallowly and could feel his heart beat like a rabbits. He didn't- he dint like this! He didn't like it! Tears began to collect in the corner of his eyes.

He felt a hand push under his t-shirt, and whimpered out loud.

Next thing he knew, there was a tug on his shirt, as the hand that held it was jerked away.

Opening his eyes that he didn't even know he had closed, he blinked dazedly at the floor, where his drunken assailant had fallen.

He roughly shoved away the hand and let the man, who had been trying to use him as a prop to stand up, tumble back down to the floor.

He felt satisfaction at the sound his head made as it connected with the floor.

He looked up, hoping to see whom it was that had helped him out, when he heard the man on the carpet cry out in pain.

Turning back, Naruto stared in shock; mind fizzling out into white as he tried to make any sort of sense on what was happening.

Sasuke. Sasuke was bent over the crumpled figure on the ground, and was…beating the shit out of him.

He could hear the repeated dull thud and crack, of fists hitting flesh.

'Crack!'

Naruto gave a feeble wince as heard something that sounded a lot like bone breaking echo through the air.

It was at this point that the other various people in the hallway began to notice what was going on. And of course, their first reaction to a fight, it wasn't exactly one-sided now that the other man had hauled himself up and was fighting back a bit, was to scream.

Loudly.

And then to move- either away, or closer for a better look.

Naruto had to admit, in his dazed state of mind, that Sasuke was doing awfully well. Almost _too_ well in fact. That guy was far more muscled that Sasuke was, yet was being happily decked into the ground by a seething Uchiha.

Out of his peripheral vision, Naruto absently saw Sakura rush out of the living room, her pink hair in disarray, and he makeup smudged. She took one look, and shrieked.

"Sasuke-kun! Sasuke! What the hell are you doing?!"

She appeared on the verge of tears.

Sasuke didn't appear to hear her, for he didn't pause for a moment in his actions.

"Take _that_, you little _**fucking**_ piece of _**shit**_!" spat Sasuke in disgust.

"Sasuke! Stop!" pleaded Sakura, tears spilling over as she pushed her way through the now very silent crowd.

Sasuke pulled back for a final 'smack!' and this time it was accompanied with the wet sound of blood. He finally pulled back.

Naruto simply stood there, mind oddly blank. He saw the man on the floor, unconscious, blood trickling down an obviously broken nose. He couldn't think, his mind wasn't processing anything properly. He couldn't help but shake slightly, from what the man had been doing to him, or from Sasuke's violence, he couldn't be sure.

Sasuke raised his head, and faced Naruto. His eyes were _red_, though they were slowly fading; Naruto looked at them in morbid fascination, thought fixing an the only colour other than black and white he could see.

"You all right?" she asked lowly, voice sharp.

Naruto could only mange a stunned nod, feeling oddly empty and at a loss of what he was supposed to do.

Sakura meanwhile, was checking on the man on the floor. She checked his pulse and cursed.

"He's just knocked out, but he's going to need to go to the hospital, he broke his nose."

She glanced up to the still form of Naruto, and then to the stiff Uchiha.

"Kiba," she called, "will you please take Naruto home? I think he's had enough for one night, yeah?"

Kiba, who apparently could sober up quite quickly, nodded seriously and moved forward to gently take Naruto's arm, as if afraid he may break and led him out the house and to his car. He glanced over; Naruto really didn't look so good, roughed up like that-pale and blue eyes blank. Iruka was going to kill them.

Back in the house, everything was quiet, Sasuke still just standing there; unaware of the blood dripping down over his hands, leaving little spots on the carpet.

Sakura approached him cautiously.

"S-sasuke-kun?" she asked timidly.

She flinched as he snapped his head toward her, and glaring ferociously, before he grunted and stormed out of the house and into the night, the door banging behind him.

Sakura was left in her house; tears making her mascara leave charcoal trails down her face.

* * *

**A/N:Whew, a lot happened there didnt it? And naru-chan and sasu-kun got their first kiss! I think you can see why this story is rated M at any rate...Poor Sakura, her house is trashed-her parents are gonna be _mad..._**

**Anyway, just so you know, this is only the start, things are going to get even more wild in coming chapters, kukukuku. And you know you want to review, come on...i'll make it worth your while...**

**Right, next chapter, we'll deal with the aftermath, and Naru-chan shows what living with Iruka for so long can do to a person...oh, and some other cool plot related stuff too,hee, Ja!**


	10. Blowing Over

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

**A/N: Well, here's the next chapter, thankyou all very much for your reviews, they were wonderful! And if you dont mind reviewing again for this chapter (yes i mean you!) then i would be very grateful :)**

Warnings: Swearing, some violence, and some fluff too.

* * *

**Blowing Over**

The door to the dark apartment burst open, banging harshly against the wall, causing little flakes of grey paint to flutter to the floor.

In the doorway, only illuminated by a swathe of moonlight, and another from the orange glare of the streetlight, stood a figure, breathing heavily.

Blood had spilled over the pale skins of the man's hands, leaving rivers of slowly drying red, little drops speckling the carpet.

Shaking slightly, Sasuke slowly pushed his way through the hallway and into the bathroom, absently yanking on the cord for the dim light to switch on. He leant closely on his arms over the white sink, trying desperately to stop his uneven breaths, his whole frame shuddering. He let his eyes slip closed and rested his head wearily on the bathroom mirror.

What the fuck had he done? _Why _had he done it?

It made no sense.

It was without doubt that Sasuke had been angry before, even times when he had been far angrier than he had been tonight, but _then_ he had been able to keep it tightly under control; he was proud of his ability to restrain such bothersome emotions. All right, he had occasionally snapped at Kakashi during training but….

This was entirely different.

Because, this time, he had properly lost complete control. He hadn't been able to stop.

He hadn't wanted to stop… 

Sasuke frowned against the glass of the mirror, dark hair ruffled as it was pushed ruthlessly up against it.

When he'd seen…_that _man, pinning Naruto up against the wall like that, he'd just…. snapped. Before he knew it, he had felt the ecstasy as his fist made bone crack and flesh bleed.

Sasuke shivered, legs trembling slightly upon the tiles, causing his shadow from the light bulb to quiver.

He had felt…different. Powerful even. Though at the time, that hadn't mattered, it hadn't even fully registered. It had been as if his very blood was on fire, coursing through him like a delicious poison.

He had desired blood, pain, and death, and subconsciously revelled in it.

Sasuke grit his teeth, jaw clenching, muscles pulling taught.

And it _hadn't gone away_. The strange, almost animalistic desire to rip, to pull; to rend and tear; it hadn't gone away, even now, nearly two hours later.

But that fucker deserved _everything _he got and _more_, thought Sasuke viciously, how _dare _he try to touch Naruto!

An image surfaced, Naruto; being pressed against the wall, a look of _fear_ in those blue eyes; hell, he could have sworn he had even fucking smelt it!

And he had no idea why it had affected him so keenly.

That, stupid, fucking man!

Sasuke' eyes snapped open as he felt a growl rumble from somewhere deep within his chest; a foreign sound that before, he had only ever associated with Kakashi when the man actually bothered to get angry over something.

He stared into the mirror, his own gaze glaring back, as he saw not black, but red. Piercing red, with slowly spinning dots of black followed by smears, like the tails of a comet.

He felt the world tilt about him, distorting the dim light of the bathroom, making it twist and bend alarmingly.

Sasuke stared in cowed disbelief, and gently reached out, a pale slim finger stark against the red in the mirror.

"Sharingan…" he whispered.

There was movement, and his eyes immediately tracked the source, seeing in the reflection Kakashi appear in the doorway, face uncharacteristically serious.

"Sasuke…" he snapped harshly.

Kakashi, forever a light sleeper, had been awoken as soon as he heard the door bang open. Knowing for a fact that it was only Sasuke, most likely in a bad mood due to a night of avoiding besotted women, had leisurely risen from his bed, intent to get in some extra teasing time before bed. What he had come to find, however, threw all such thoughts out of mind. Sasuke was staring at him with blood red eyes, the characteristic tomoe of the Sharingan blazing.

A trait that Sasuke should have not been able to access, all by himself.

"Sasuke…" growled Kakashi lowly, "what happened tonight?"

Sasuke gave a noncommittal grunt as reply and turned away. Alarm bells began ringing in Kakashi's head. Sasuke's voice sounded deeper, and his frame was _trembling_. Trembling with the desire to lash out. He would have to tread very carefully, if Sasuke's youkai nature had finally come out, in all its fierce glory.

"Sasuke…." repeated Kakashi, voice stronger this time, and more insistent; he needed answers.

Sasuke snapped his head around, feeling increasingly agitated with Kakshi's unwanted presence.

"The party was crap, shit happened."

Kakashi sighed internally, Sasuke was difficult to get information out of when he was _normal_; all worked up like this, it was going to be a small miracle to get anything out of him.

"Sasuke- that is not an answer, now tell me what the hell got you so worked up, that you've become so murderous."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, feeling as if a switch had flicked; he really didn't want Kakashi here anymore.

"I went, drank a bit, escaped to the garden and bumped into Naruto, then left, alright?"

Kakashi frowned as well, his visage becoming stern.

"You don't really expect for me to believe that that's all that happened do you?" Kakahsi snorted, "What, did you fight with Naruto again, and this time it got out of hand? You _know_ he's a jinchuuriki, for God's sake Sas-"

"It wasn't Naruto," whispered Sasuke, head bowed, and frame now oddly still.

Kakashi felt the hairs on the back if his neck prickle unpleasantly. He slowly moved a hand up, to gently slide up the headband that covered his eye.

"Oh yeah?" he asked, purposefully trying to keep his voice light, even as the atmosphere of the room grew tenser, contracting almost painfully.

The bathroom light flickered.

"Yeah," spat out Sasuke gutturally. Kakashi surreptitiously altered his weight distribution.

"So who was it?"

"It was the _man_, who was going to rape him," drawled Sasuke, who still remained portentously still, the muscles in his shoulders twitching occasionally.

Kakashi let out a growl, unbidden, as the pressure in the room increased, pressing down on him like a heavy weight.

"Shit Sasuke, I was only joking around when I said you had a crush on Naruto…" muttered Kakashi under his breath, taking an observatory glance around the bathroom, cataloguing instantly what to avoid.

Sasuke twitched again, as the tap in the sink dripped. The very air seemed to disappear, sucking them into a vacuum.

Sasuke snapped again; but Kakashi had predicted this, and was able to catch the younger as he ploughed into him with astonishing speed and force. Kakashi grunted as he twisted round, attempting to lock Sasuke's arms behind his back. They both struggled for a while, Sasuke managing to brutally shove Kakashi into the mirror above the sink, sending glass shards to clinker down onto the porcelain tiles.

However, Sasuke couldn't keep the upper hand for long, being as inexperienced as he was, at least compared to Kakashi, who was able to pin him against the floor and twist his arms around his back. The older man also made a point to sit on the boy squirming boy, just to make sure he remained firmly secured against the tiled floor.

Kakashi gave a loud sigh as Sasuke hissed from beneath him, but he made no move to let up, Sasuke just had to let his energy run out before he could take back his much valued control. But really, Kakashi couldn't blame the young Uchiha for lashing out; he'd dealt with human emotions and desires, but never demon ones. His age didn't really help much either; with the plan in place, Sasuke was effectively going through two sorts of puberties at the same time.

The thought made Kakashi chuckle out loud. Ahh, so many _talks_, so little time.

But golden opportunity aside, this posed a large problem. Uchiha youkai always possessed an inherent…forcefulness, and could be particularly violent when provoked.

Sasuke continued his harsh movements in a vain attempt to escape; Kakashi ignored him, still sitting on his back, shoving his belly into the floor like a disobedient dog.

However, Kakashi was confident that with time, Sasuke would learn to properly deal with his new…. instincts. He himself had adjusted quite well to his, when his powers were newly awakened. However, Kakashi thought, worry chasing him like a ghost, if he had understood Sasuke correctly, then he had flipped because someone went a bit too far with Naruto.

Oh dear.

Kakashi bit his lip underneath his mask, feeling somewhat more than passing concern. It was obvious that Sasuke was forming a sort of…attachment to Naruto; one that could makes things unnecessarily complicated in the not-too-distant future.

Kakashi could only hope, as Sasuke finally gave up his struggles, Sharingan long gone and panting on the bathroom tiles, that it wasn't the bond he thought it was.

* * *

Kiba hauled a still unresponsive Naruto up the stairs to Iruka's apartment, moving slowly to ensure that they both didn't end up tumbling down and killing themselves. After all, there were far more exiting ways to die than being clumsy.

Truthfully, at this moment Kiba envied Naruto; the blonde boy wasn't much aware of anything, blue eyes blank and staring straight ahead. At the moment, Kiba would do anything to have that numbness; then he wouldn't feel it as Iruka slowly skinned his hide for bringing home Naruto _like this. _

Suffice to say, Kiba was absolutely dreading arriving at Iruka's door, and could only hope that the sensei would be sufficiently distracted with Naruto for him to be able to make his speedy escape. Iruka could move quick when he wanted to though, and Kiba couldn't help but whimper slightly as they reached the correct floor.

Kiba sent another side-glance to Naruto; he wouldn't deny that he was a bit worried about the other boy. He really…. didn't look so good.

"Hey, Naruto, you alright man?" cajoled Kiba softly.

He felt immensely relieved when Naruto gave a small nod, showing that he had heard him.

For his part, Naruto wasn't sure _what_ he was feeling; he was still in an odd state of…blankness- it was actually starting to become annoying. But most of all, however, he was tired-mentally and physically, shivering, confused, and wanted no more than to simply collapse on his bed and never have to get up ever again.

He distantly heard Kiba sigh from beside him as they came to a halt, and Kiba reached out a hand to knock on the door.

No answer.

Huffing, Kiba repeated, this time literally banging his fist against the flimsy, plywood surface.

He nearly hit Iruka in the face as he hurriedly wrenched the door open.

"_Naruto_!"

Iruka's face immediately darkened and he reached forward to jerk the blonde roughly inside. Kiba tried to leave, but one glare from Iruka sent him following in meekly behind.

Standing in the hallway of the apartment, Iruka grabbed onto Naruto's shoulders, the material of his t-shirt bunching and promptly began his tirade.

"Naruto! You said you would be home over four hours ago! Do you know how worried I've been- I couldn't even sleep! What sort of party was this, to go on for so long…!"

Iruka paused as he realised that Naruto, who usually couldn't stay quiet for a minute, listened silently without response. Feeling dread loop in his stomach, Iruka gently reached out a hand to lift Naruto's chin to face him. Blank blue eye's; so unlike the sparkling azure he was familiar with, greeted him vacantly.

"Naruto…" murmured Iruka softly, "what happened, are you alright?"

Naruto merely blinked, before giving a halfhearted shrug and shook himself out of Iruka's limp hold.

Iruka's face darkened, and he rounded on Kiba.

"You!" he spat, eyes virtually spitting fire, "What the hell _happened?!_ What did you _do _to him!"

Kiba startled badly, and took a few steps back in defense.

"ME?!" asked Kiba, scandalised, "I didn't do anything, its not my fault that the party got out of hand!"

Kiba immediately knew that this was the wrong thing to say, as soon as he saw Iruka close off.

"What?" he said quietly. Dangerously, Kiba knew; he'd never seen the man quite like this before.

"I…I…" stammered Kiba.

"I saw some stuff, that I wasn't really expecting to see, that's all Iruka-sensei," interjected Naruto from the side, causing Kiba to inwardly sigh in relief as Iruka focussed his attention on someone else.

"What do you mean, you saw some things you didn't expect? Naruto!" growled out Iruka, sounding awfully like a rabid guard dog.

Naruto remained silent.

"Naruto, you better tell me _everything_ that happened tonight, right now or I'll-"

"You'll what?" spat Naruto, suddenly feeling immensely irritated with sharing other people's presence- it somehow…didn't feel right.

"Na-Naruto…?" asked Iruka wide eyed, feeling hopelessly lost- Naruto had never taken that tone with him, not even when they had first met.

Naruto felt his face contort, nose wrinkling, feeling some guilt at putting that look on Iruka-sensei's face.

"I'm just-I just really need to go to bed right now, I'm tired. You can yell at me all you want tomorrow."

And without saying anything more, Naruto sullenly walked to his room and shut the door behind him with restrained gentleness, falling onto his bed with a muffled 'thump'.

Outside, Iruka blinked in shock, wondering what on earth had happened to make the usually energetic Naruto to act like this.

He rounded once again on Kiba, who had been surreptitiously inching towards the door.

"Kiba," Iruka pleaded, "what happened tonight?"

Kiba, who had been expecting more shouting, bit his lip, debating whether or not to tell; if he did, Naruto may never be let out again…. but then, Iruka just appeared so lost…Kiba groaned, hoping he was making the right decision.

"The party…got a bit out of hand you know? I don't think that Naruto actually drank all that much…"

Iruka had to bite down on his tongue to refrain from exploding, but he merely nodded for the student to continue.

"I was with him for a bit, but then we got separated, so many people and well- I'm not entirely sure what happened after that but, well, when I next saw him again…."

Kiba trailed off, worry dancing over his features. He may of only known Naruto for a short time, but the guy had proved to be a great friend- shit, he really should have kept a better eye on him! God only knew how naïve Naruto might have been before tonight- his eye's practically radiated innocence, virginity and obliviousness! Hell, he shouldn't have let Naruto come at all, what sort of friend was he?

"Kiba?" prodded Iruka, who was using all self-control not to demand the boy to explain him self- in full.

Kiba only hesitated for a few more seconds, before he took the plunge.

"Apparently, Naruto got…was getting…felt up-by a guy and a bit more than could be considered _appropriate_, and-and he was pinned against a wall and if-well, Sasuke saw what happened, and beat the fucking crap out of the guy- he was," Kiba gulped nervously, "scary yeah? I thought he was gonna kill him…. and then, well, yeah after that Sakura came and asked me to take him home."

Kiba glanced up at Iruka; noticing the man's rigid posture and tight facial features.

Iruka nodded stiffly.

"Arigatou Kiba, you should get home- you must be tired. Thank you for bringing Naruto back."

Kiba nodded unsurely, and flicking one last worried glance to the closed door of Naruto's room, quietly slipped out the front door.

Iruak let out his weariest sigh of the night, and hung his head on the doorjamb to the living room. He cast a tired glace in the direction of Naruto's room.

They'd have to talk about it tomorrow, hopefully when Naruto was feeling better.

* * *

Naruto sighed as he heard the distorted murmurs cease and the door go as Kiba obviously left. He absently wondered if Iruka would come in to try to talk to him.

He hoped not; he wasn't really in the talking mood at the moment.

Naruto let out a strangled moan of frustration and rolled over to muffle it in his pillow; no need to give Iruka an excuse to come check on him.

He lay there limply, head burrowed into his pillow, moonlight seeping in through his drawn curtains to cover his back, golden hair bleached to a more silvery hue. Naruto twisted the material of his pillow-cover in his hands and bit down hard into his lip.

This was probably the longest night in his entire life. He had never felt so tired and yet, he still couldn't get to sleep, He was feeling restless, as if he had somewhere else to be, and his mind simply refused to shut down, thoughts chasing themselves around his head in circles.

Funnily enough they weren't to do with that nameless man molesting him; he had already dealt with that. No, what haunted him was the image of red eyes and the way Sasuke had beat on that guy so…violently. His classmate had been…frightening in his intensity, and those eyes made him shiver in remembrance.

What was confusing was that it wasn't exactly a _bad _shiver either. Naruto knew he should have felt frightened of Sasuke, he had seen fear in Sakura's eyes as she had looked at him, and reflected in the gazes of the bystanders, but he hadn't been.

Instead of fear, it had been…what?

Naruto frowned into his pillow, fist clenching the material.

Adrenaline, nervousness…. excitement?

He was startled to feel his pulse quiver lightly like a butterfly in remembrance, stomach fluttering.

He didn't know- it was all far too confusing.

Which led him to the even more confusing question of _why _Sasuke had defended him in the first place; they didn't exactly hate each other, they'd even had a conversation before hand, but surely they were no more than acquaintances at best?

_Ah, _spoke up a deep, purring voice from the back of his mind, _but don't you remember what happened before?_

Naruto blushed. He remembered why he had been in such a hurry to leave; his and Sasuke's…. kiss, accidental or no. Maybe- maybe that was why Sasuke had got so mad? But wouldn't that mean that the 'accident', as Naruto preferred to call it, actually _meant_ something to him then? And why the hell did that thought make him blush even more?

Naruto growled aggravated into his pillow and huffily sat up, bending his knees up so he could rest his chin on them. No, that was a stupid reason to even think of, as far as Naruto could tell, Sasuke didn't really like _anyone_, not even as friends. The thought made him frown again, staring with irritation at the wall opposite.

Why did things have to be so complicated?

And why did Sasuke have to be such a damn mystery all the time? It was seriously making his head hurt.

With a grunt, the blonde let himself fall back against the mattress. All he did know was that Monday morning was going to be very awkward indeed.

* * *

Monday mornings are forever doomed to be a time of great pain; but this particular Monday was really outdoing itself. Naruto wasn't entirely sure why this Monday was particularly worse than others; he couldn't quite put his finger on it…

It wasn't the weather; it was a fine, clear day, with the sun filtering through the large window to warm his entire left side rather comfortably.

It wasn't that he had woken up late, or anything like that either; his alarm had gone off correctly, and he'd even managed to snag himself a cup of ramen this morning, as Iruka-sensei wasn't awake yet.

It wasn't having to go to classes; he had all his homework done and he never dreaded going to lessons anyway.

"…there will actually be an air pocket in the xylem which can affect how long it will survive …"

Two girls in the back row were hastily writing on a piece of paper, their scribbling punctuated with violent stabs of theirs pens, as if to enunciate a point. Finally, they gave up and one of them leaned over to the other, holding up a hand to whisper in her ear; the second girl quickly spewed a hushed diatribe back. They finished with rather unsubtle glances towards the windows, where directly underneath sat Naruto.

"The root pressure will only actually send water up the xylem by a few meters, making it only of great significance in plants or shrubs, rather than trees, where it is insufficient to…"

Glancing to the side, Naruto caught Kiba sneaking him the fifteenth fleeting look of the past fifty-seven minutes, ever since Biology started.

Upon reflection, Naruto knew exactly why this Monday morning was turning out to be so painful. He dreaded when the bell would ring to signal the end of the lesson- it would be lunch then, and he'd undoubtedly face a most unpleasantly uncomfortable conversation with everyone.

Naruto bit his lip out of habit and glanced towards the clock hanging on the opposite wall. He supposed it wouldn't be so bad; he had things that he wanted to discuss as well but…

Sasuke would be there… 

And Naruto had no idea what to say to that man. Was Sasuke expecting a 'thank you' or would he prefer they never speak of it ever again? Both were equally likely in his mind, considering Sasuke could be a bastard enough for the former, or perhaps embarrassed enough for the latter.

Really, with Sasuke, who knew?

Just to make things even more difficult than they should by any right have to be, there was also the small matter of the 'accident'- the one that had involved the mortifying experience of lips touching.

Naruto dearly hoped that _that _little piece of information would never, _ever_, be shared with _anyone_. Ever- seriously, Ino and Sakura would kill him, actually physically _kill _him and then bury him under the school playing fields.

If Sasuke didn't do it first of course.

Truthfully, Naruto's predominant thoughts on the matter were more in the direction of being…scandalised- in a rather infuriatingly feminine manner, but damn it! That bastard of an Uchiha had stolen his first kiss, wittingly or not!

Really, Naruto admitted to himself, Saturday night had left him with a big, writhing ball of distressed emotions, which was putting him under an immense amount of strain, where oddly enough most involved Sasuke in some perverse sort of way or another.

The bastard, now he was disturbing him in his thoughts too.

"…otherwise known as capillary action, you've covered that before yes? Where the smaller the tube, the higher the water goes? Yes, well…"

Naruto frowned, and absent-mindedly started to chew on the end of his pencil, ignoring the reproachful look directed his way by Ino, who apparently disapproved greatly of his abuse of useful stationary.

It was just that…. he'd never had a …friend (Yes! He admitted it, he considered himself friends with Sasuke, however strange a dynamic they seemed to hold when put in the same place) like Sasuke before. All right, he'd never really had friends before he came to Tokyo at all, but he certainly did _now_, and he was certain that whatever it was with Sasuke, was very different form the way he and Kiba, or even Sakura or Ino, got on with him.

It was all very confusing…and though he knew Sasuke was different somehow, he had absolutely no idea _how _he was different

Naruto sighed out loud, looking almost forlorn as the bell rung.

"Homework, use your textbook to write notes on xerophytes, you can find the page…"

Naruto dragged himself from his seat and slung his bag over one shoulder, heading out the door, only waving half heartedly as Kiba lost no time in joining him.

"Man, I just don't get Biology…no wonder I'm failing, but I mean, what the fuck? Plants? Shit man, if they think _anybody's_ interested in that…"

Naruto made the necessary hum of agreement, keeping his head up and facing forwards, on the look out for any dark haired, evil confusing bastards, so as to be able to make his escape in due time if one were to suddenly appear.

Fortunately, they both made it to the lunch hall, _and _to their table with out any contact with an Uchiha at all.

Naruto subsequently came back to a slightly more chirpy version of his usual self, snapping his chopsticks apart with relish.

He missed the slight sigh of relief from Kiba, after seeing Naruto act more like his usual self; maybe they hadn't broken him after all. Naruto did seem like the type to bounce back.

Naruto, after his required five minutes of uninterrupted 'food time', perked up, soba halfway in his mouth as Ino joined them, along with Hinata, next to very quiet Sakura. Naruto swallowed his noodles in surprise; he hadn't even noticed she was there.

"Hey mutt, how was yesterday, I bet you spent the entire time moaning pitifully about your headache of a hangover," said Ino as soon as she sat down, smirk already playing across her face.

"Yeah, yeah Ino, make all the funny comments you like, I'll have you know that I have come to the point where I have become immune," Kiba snorted, " and I think its more likely that _you_ were the one bitching all day."

Ino's face soured slightly, her eye's losing their amusement; apparently for once in his life, Kiba had got something right. Miracles really do happen every day.

Naruto snapped out of his amused ramblings however, when Ino spotted him for the first time.

"Hey, Naruto," she said lowly, "You okay? You had a bit of a rough night on Saturday."

Naruto dearly wanted to believe that Ino was merely asking out of concern for his health, but he wasn't oblivious enough that he didn't realise what Ino was really asking about; what was the thing with Sasuke?

Naruto decided however, to play along with the good old standby; faultless innocence.

"Heh, yeah, it was…more than I expected, that's for sure, but I'm absolutely fine! Hey, ano…are all parties like that?"

He cocked his head at the end _just so_, and he could hear Kiba groan desperately from beside him as Ino appeared somewhat put out.

"No man! That one just kinda, got out of hand. 'Course, quite a few are like that but well, you probably shouldn't go to those- Iruka-sensei would flip."

Naruto simply nodded, already knowing that he wouldn't be accepting any more invitations for a while; Iruka-sensei wouldn't let him go anyways.

"A-ano…are y-you really a-alright, N-Naruto-kun?" whispered Hinata from beside him.

Naruto jumped, not having noticed _her_ either, but gave her a reassuring grin and laughed, only slightly nervously.

"Hey, I'm fine Hinata! Really, no need to worry about me!"

Hinata blushed something fierce, but gave a weak smile and a jerky nod, accompanied by a breathless, "H-hai!"

"Hey, Ino," said Sakura suddenly, from her morose place at the end of the table.

"Do-do you know if Sasuke-kun's in any trouble about the fight?" she asked timidly, pink hair lying limp, and raising her head for the first time.

Naruto felt a little uncomfortable seeing the rather obvious dried tear tracks staining her cheeks; crying girls always made him edgy.

Ino gave her what might have been a sympathetic expression, and sighed heavily, sipping on her coffee before answering.

"I heard it being discussed in the Head's office this morning, you know how quick word gets around. Well, apparently the guy was lucky, and remembered who it was that 'assaulted him'."

Ino paused to do the hand motions around the words 'assaulted'. Naruto frowned in confusion.

"Hang on, why would it be lucky for the guy to remember it was Sasuke?"

Ino sighed wearily, and gave him an impatient look, "It's exactly that, because he's _Uchiha _Sasuke."

At Naruto's uncomprehending stare, Kiba spoke up, the words coming out uncharacteristically soft.

"He's an Uchiha, the guy knows that if he tries to press charges, that he will get torn to pieces by the defence lawyers, not to mention he'd practically be shitting himself; virtually everyone is scared of Sasuke, but you gotta admit, the guy is can be pretty intimidating; you never know _what_ he's thinking."

Naruto felt himself nod along, inwardly agreeing with Kiba's judgement- it made sense, and he certainly couldn't testify that Sasuke couldn't be frightening when he wanted to be. A glimpse of red eyes flashed from his memory.

"Yeah," Ino continued, "so Sasuke's got off fine, and their not even going to bring it up at school either, so no need to worry Sakura!" she finished with a bright smile in the pink-haired girls direction, but Sakura could only bring herself to nod, before her head fell down again to stare at her plate.

Ino frowned and reached out to shake the girl's shoulder.

"Hey, hey, I know you're in trouble with your parents, but no need to be so down yeah? Give it a few weeks and it'll completely blow over; especially when all the repairs are done…"

Sakura nodded hesitantly, and proceeded to prod a bit at her soba, nibbling on it slightly.

Deeming this as adequate improvement, Ino turned back around and busied herself with her own lunch. Even though most of the tension at the table had been resolved, the rest of the meal was carried out in silence.

* * *

"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!"

Naruto ran as best he could down the corridor, bag bouncing on his hip as he raced past the lockers and bounded down some stairs, landing with a crash on the linoleum before skidding round a corner.

How could he forget the time? He was chatting with Shikamaru (well, actually he was talking _at _him and Shikamaru merely pretended to listen) who had a free. Naruto on the other hand, forgot the tiny fact that he _did not._

Thus leading to him racing through the school, already horrendously late for Maths and getting more late by the second.

He was therefore most displeased when he hit an obstacle, a rather hard and unrelenting one that sent him sprawling to the floor. He was just about to haul himself up and yell at whoever had the sheer _audacity_ to get in his way when-

"Tch, can't even watch where you're going?"

Naruto felt as if someone had poured excessive amounts of ice down his back. He jumped; he shuddered and had to bite back a scream.

"Damn it you bastard! Don't sneak up on people like that!"

Sasuke peered down at him, (Naruto once again cursed his short height) and raised a questioning eyebrow.

Naruto felt himself flush as he realised what absolute stupidity he had just _spewed _out.

"Baka."

Naruto hissed in anger, and clenched his fists, resisting the ever-tempting urge to pound the bastard Uchiha in the face. How was it that just one simple word from the other boy could wind him up so much? Seriously, it simply couldn't be natural. That, or Uchiha Sasuke was just _that _infuriating.

"You- you're such a bastard, you know that? Can't you ever speak nicely to people?!"

Sasuke didn't dignify that with a response and simply crossed his arms, perfecting his image of superiority.

Naruto sighed resignedly, feeling the anger wash out of him with it. He was far too exhausted to fight with Sasuke today, and though it was very tempting to just use it as an excuse to dodge around the…'incident', in the long run, he knew it wouldn't do any good.

Naruto sighed again, biting his lip in nervous habit and shifted nervously from foot to foot. Sasuke merely watched him impassively, idly wondering why he just didn't just push past the dobe and make his way to his lesson, which was probably far more important than _this. _

"Ano…Sasuke…I'm-I'm not gonna ask why you did that at the party, 'coz well, I don't think you'd even tell me if I did," Naruto paused briefly to glare up at the dark haired boy, "but, ano…"

Naruto let out a noise of frustration and simply gave in, giving a sharp not-too-low bow, and said a stiff, "Arigatou."

Sasuke was sure this should have irritated him, he usually hated being thanked-for reasons unknown, but he couldn't help but feel a great amusement; the blonde was conceding to him, however much Naruto obviously resented doing so. There was just something about this fact that made Sasuke feel…immensely satisfied, in a strange, twisted sort of way.

"Hn, don't you think you should say something a bit more proper, you were rather informal, dobe."

He couldn't help it- really. The smaller boy was just so fun to insult; he'd go red, start yelling and glare at him, which really could only be called _cute_.

…By some people. Perhaps. And never by him.

Obviously.

"Teme…" growled Naruto.

The blonde felt his rage inflame as he saw the smirk adorning the other's face. That's it! The bastard was going down, how dare he mock him after he gave away his pride to thank him! He'd been deliberating all weekend on what to do concerning Sasuke, and several possibilities and flown through his head, including a rather lovely one involving him beating the crap out of Sasuke, just to prove that he didn't need the boy's help in future, thank you very much! However unfortunately, his hitherto rather repressed conscious perked up and simply refused to allow him to do it. In fact, in the end, the only response he could come up with was…expressing the minimal amount of gratitude possible, and then moving swiftly on. But no, the yarou couldn't resist could he?

Bastard!

Sasuke, sensing the tone, took a satisfied step back and lifted an arm to help intercept Naruto before he actually tried to hit him, not _too_ worried about the murderous expression painting the blonde's face.

He was however, rather unprepared for the sudden gasp that issued from the blonde and the abrupt transform of expression.

Naruto had just been about to give the Uchiha what he had coming to him, when he caught sight of Sasuke's hands. Bruised, peeling skin and soiled bloodied bandages stood in stark contrast to the rest of the pale skin. They looked rather painful.

Naruto felt his stomach clench, forcibly reminded that indeed, Sasuke had done something for him that night, without being asked. In fact, Sasuke had acted in a way that, no matter how much he tried to deny, Naruto couldn't help but feel…valued, recognised. It was a warm feeling and Naruto ahd ruthlessly tried to squash it by any means possible, it was Sasuke after all, and he knew that the Uchiha didn't hold such reasons for defending him.

Nevertheless however, upon seeing Sasuke's badly bandaged knuckles, he couldn't help but be reminded…

Sasuke blinked in surprise as Naruto suddenly just seemingly _disappeared. _He blinked again as he suddenly felt someone holding onto his hand. Looking down, he was startled to see that it was Naruto; he was holding his hand out for inspection, eyes wide.

What the hell-?

"Waaaahh Sasuke!"

Naruto gently inspected the pale hand in his grasp, and then quickly pulled up the other one, ignoring the shocked Uchiha, who could do nothing more than simply stare as Naruto gently turned his palms over.

Sasuke's knuckles were a mess; the skin was either cracked or completely ripped off in some places. They had been roughly tied off with bandages, but they were getting loose, and blood had already seeped all the way through them, staining a dark rusty red.

Naruto felt the slippery ball of guilt that had lodged itself in his stomach writhe, making him twitch in discomfort. He owed Sasuke, he realised, and perhaps with more than an unwilling 'thank you'.

"Na-Naruto, what are you doing?"

Sasuke was ashamed to think that he'd stuttered, but…the idiot was acting very weird all of a sudden, and had strangest look on his face. Not to mention that he wanted the dobe to release his hands as soon as possible; the touch was beginning to tingle slightly; a sensation that reminded him all too much of their little 'incident' on Saturday.

Sasuke steeled himself not to blush at the memory of it.

However, before he could tell the moron to let him go, he unexpectedly found himself being dragged forward by Naruto, who was holding onto him with something akin to a death grip.

Naruto was leading him somewhere…but why?

Feeling lost, and hating the sensation of being out of his depth, he harshly pulled away, ripping himself out of Naruto's grip.

"Usuratonkachi," he snarled, "what the _hell _do you think you're doing?"

Sasuke was not pleased in the least to find that his obvious rage with the current situation was dismissed with nothing more than an impatient 'tsk' from Naruto, who promptly took hold of his arm and tugged him along, proving to have more strength than Sasuke had first surmised.

Sasuke scowled, disliking being ignored immensely; who did he think he was, to lead him around like this. He was most certainly not a sheep that Naruto could herd around. Even worse, if _someone _had to do so, it should be him and not Naruto!

Sasuke only became even more mystified when Naruto led them into a bathroom and practically threw him against the sinks, several of which were dripping.

While Shichiyou was a rather prestigious school, a bathroom is a bathroom, and the usual dinginess and general…wetness was prevalent. Frankly, Sasuke tended to avoid all public bathrooms as much as possible.

Feeling his irritation grind into higher levels, he spun around and fixed the blonde idiot with a glare.

"Naruto…" he growled.

Naruto only half-turned towards him, and simply fixed him with a 'look'. If asked, Sasuke couldn't possibly say what that glance meant or what it comprised of, but it prompted him into silence as well as if Naruto had forcibly cut his tongue off. Inwardly sulking at the turn of events, Sasuke grudgingly leant against the sink edge as he watched Naruto fiddle slightly.

There was an uncomfortable silence and Sasuke was just beginning to become rather suspicious of why they were in a _bathroom _of all places when Naruto appeared to steel himself and walked forward, reaching for Sasuke's hands again.

The Uchiha wondered whether to step out the way, but upon realising the sink was cutting off his exit, he decided to simply let the blonde get over with whatever he wanted. No point wasting time.

He felt a smaller hand hold onto his again, and Sasuke watched warily as Naruto bent over it, gently unwinding his impromptu first aid bandage from this morning. He couldn't help but notice how nimble Naruto's fingers were, or how soft they felt as they brushed over his skin as the bloodied gauze was removed. Naruto remained quiet as he worked, the only sound being the slight crinkle of fabric as Naruto removed the stiff dressings. It only took a few moments for Sasuke to settle into a lull, observing his movements lazily through hooded eyes.

Sasuke watched patiently as Naruto, resolutely refusing to meet his eyes, used the sink to dab away at the still faintly oozing wounds on his knuckles after they were revealed, and then pulled out a roll of clean bandages from his pocket.

"You carry a first aid kit around with you wherever you go?" he asked mockingly.

Naruto finally looked up at him, blue eyes parking with annoyance, "Shut up bastard, just let me finish, then you can piss of to where ever you want."

They lapsed into an oddly comfortable silence, Sasuke feeling strangely calm as Naruto almost tenderly wrapped up his injury, golden hair occasionally tickling over his skin as Naruto leaned over.

Naruto tied off the end and tucked it in as he finished, and, only know beginning to realise what he had just done, tentatively lifted his head, and swallowed nervously.

His gaze met a smoky black and he felt his heart race. He and Sasuke were really close.

As in really, _really_ close. He could see the grey in Sasuke's eyes again. He once again took the opportunity to admire the soft smoky texture of them.

The room was completely silent, Naruto half leaning over Sasuke, head bent upwards, the Uchiha pushed up against the sinks, the taps dripping occasionally in the deserted bathroom.

The scene felt almost surreal, flashbacks of two nights before rushing to fill his vision. Neither had broken eye contact, and the tension was starting to become unbearable.

Naruto could almost feel the heat radiating from Sasuke and he felt as if-

Wait.

Him.

And Sasuke.

Him practically _on top _of Sasuke. Him and Sasuke staring at each other in a non-hostile way. Feeling Sasuke _through his shirt_…

Naruto jumped away as if burnt and hung his head, feeling the blush literally _burn_ itself into his skin. What the hell was that?!

The spell was broken and Naruto could only manage a small nod to Sasuke, before they _both_ hurriedly left, pausing on the threshold.

"I-er, well…" stuttered Naruto, "I guess, well, now that we've got _that_ sorted out, I suppose I'll see you tomorrow- or something. Bastard."

Sasuke gave him the slightest tilt of the head in acknowledgment and strode off, desperately hoping that Naruto hadn't seen the slight blush on his face. When the door had banged, he has only then snapped out his dazed lull, caused by Naruto's soothing diligence over bandaging his hands properly. For the first time in a while he felt shaken and right now, going home seemed a perfectly sensible idea.

Naruto could only watch as the dark haired boy strode round the corner and out of sight. Sighing, the blonde only _then _remembered the maths class that he was _supposed _to be in.

"Shit!"

* * *

**A/N: So how was that? Increasing amounts of Sasunaru action. #sighs- can't wait until i can start writing lemons...Anyway, next chapter things shall get interesting, and the plot shall continue hurtling away, and dont forget to review too! #rubs hands together evilly. Now, where did i put Orochimaru? Oh, and Kyuubi too.**

**:D ja!**


	11. Growing Pains

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

**A/N: Waaa! I'm so sorry this is so late, but i was having writer's block, and i've been feeling just really off lately, and i've been really stressed with my upcoming exams and my stupid brother coming back from uni to stress me out all the time. Urgh. Nevertheless, i apologise, especially as this chapter is perhaps not the most exciting, but, the plot develops greatly here, and the fun shall soon begin. So, read, enjoy, and review if you've got something to say!**

Thankyou for all the great reviews, they mean a lot to me. 

Warnings:A lot of talking, and perhaps a little angst too? 

* * *

**Growing Pains**

Kakashi sighed and leaned over the back of the couch and sighed, silver strands of hair tickling the smooth worn leather. Kakashi had always liked Iruka's sofa; it held fond memories, including, but not limited to- making out, molesting, and all out sex. 

Yes, fond memories indeed.

Kakashi closed his eyes and hummed contemplatively, wondering what Iruka would say when he saw the open window in the kitchen; no doubt he'd try to harass him over the surreptitiously missing lock; but really, was it his fault if Iruka had failed to leave him a key?

And the window was far more furtive than picking open the front door.

As may be expected, neither Iruka nor Naruto were home from school yet, but such simple matters had not deterred Kakashi; he had important matters to discuss, not to mention other vital…. matters.

Heh-heh.

Kakashi's perverted thoughts were broken off with the click that heralded the arrival of the two occupants of the flat, and Kakashi watched intently from where his head lay upside down over the sofa back, as the door, after much struggle finally gave way and swung open to admit two people.

Smiling under his mask, Kakashi tilted his head forward and waited patiently, eye lazily roving over the orange book in hand. 

"Ka-Kakashi! Wh-what are you doing here!" exclaimed Iruka, gazing in through the doorway as if there were a lion on his sofa, rather than a man.

Kakashi turned to give a jovial greeting.

"Aa, Iruka-koi, I was wondering when you'd get back," he mock sighed, "I've been forced to wait for you all afternoon, you're such a cruel lover, Iruka-koi…." 

While Kakashi was moaning to his rather unsympathetic audience, Naruto had pushed his way past Iruka, and swiftly dumped his schoolbag on the creaking floorboards, still in a sour mood from the long lecture delivered by his, quite literally, _spitting_ maths teacher. He was taking a shower tonight, with extra hard scrubbing. 

"Oi! Weirdo pervert!"

Naruto felt gratified when Kakashi looked up.

"How did you get in here anyways?" asked Naruto half accusingly, half curiously. 

Kakashi gave one of his ingratiating smiles, the one where his eye curled up, and gave a breezy wave in his direction.

"Maa, maa, I just came in through the window."

"Eh?" asked Naruto, head cocked to the side oddly reminiscent of an insistent puppy, "but we're on the second floor…"

Kakashi was saved answering as Iruka bustled up from behind him, face elongated with incredulity.

"Tell me your not serious Kakashi…" he mumbled, before whimpering as Kakashi tilted his head in the affirmative.

"Kakashi, what have I told you, _repeatedly_, about using windows as points of forced entry!"

Kakashi gave a slight nervous laugh as he rubbed the back of his head, stroking the aloof silver strands so that his resemblance to a porcupine greatly increased. 

"Aa, you know me by know Iruka-koi…"

Iruka gave a huff, and sent Naruto a sidelong glance, watching the blonde as he tried to grab a hold of the situation presented, obviously not taking it too well, as he still appeared as confused as he had on the day he'd banged straight into a pair of glass doors while out shopping.

Iruka sighed, and after giving Kakashi a look that signalled that he could see perfectly well through the other man's intentions, left the room reluctantly, but not being able to deny the obsessive urge to check on the health of all of his window locks. Damn that Kakashi.

Naruto sent a befuddled glance after Iruka as he saw his sensei leave the living room, before warily staring at the strange weirdo who sat on Iruka-sensei's sofa. Seriously, what sort of normal person would use koi as a suffix? Especially for a man…

Yet, at the same time, he couldn't help himself from sitting adjacent to him on said sofa, locked in a sort of morbid fascination. His fingers twitched as he pondered over what lay under the mask that covered the entire lower portion of his face. Maybe Iruka-sensei knew…?

They sat in a silence that would have suffocated a dog for several long moments, Naruto furiously wondering what to ask _first,_ while his eyes fixed absently on the neon orange book that Kakashi was clutching loosely. He was distracted slightly by the sudden…itchiness that the other man's proximity seemed to invoke. It was strangely familiar, like when you would try to remember one of your oldest memories, but would evasively elude your grasp, only being able to hold onto it for a second or two. 

Kakashi, noticing Naruto's uncomfortable shifting, appraised him lazily from over Icha Icha's spine.

"So Naru-chan, how have you been liking Tokyo so far?" he asked listlessly, deftly turning a page. 

Naruto twitched at his new 'name', and wrinkled his nose slightly, but replied amiably none the less. 

"Its been okay, much more interesting than Konoha, that's for sure! There's just so many people here, and well, schools great too- its nice having friends around…." He trailed off uncertainly, thoughts automatically drifting to a certain dark haired boy, a frown unconsciously marring his face like a gathering cloud.

"Uhuh…. I've heard from Iruka that you've been making friends, its nice to be sociable isn't it?" said Kakashi cheerfully, his eye once more portraying his assumed expressions.

"Oh, yeah," said Naruto surprised, feeling oddly lost in the conversation, "…I guess so…."

Kakashi hummed contemplatively, and let his head fall back to lie on the sofa back.

"I remember when Iruka used to teach at Shichiyou a long time ago…"

Naruto looked up, startled. He had forgotten about that.

"Oh yeah, you knew him from before he left the city didn't you?"

Kakashi stared at the ceiling, book tilting to display its pages, cursive text bright against the white paper.

"Yes, I did- a lot has changed since then…but I suppose quite a lot has stayed the same too."

He sounded oddly philosophical, thought Naruto, as he watched the silver haired man stare intently above him, single eye unfocused in what surely was the past.

"Things do that, don't they?" spoke Naruto quietly, forced into his own contemplations, musing about his life back in Konoha…so much had changed since then, it seemed like a completely different lifetime. Perhaps it was, mused Naruto, as he heard the raucous wail of a siren pass by on the street below. 

"Aa."

They both delved back into silence once more, though this time, a more companiable one. 

"So Naru-chan," broke Kakashi at last, eliciting a scowl from Naruto, " I'm glad to know you like it here, but what was your village like? Iruka must of really been fond of Konoha to stay there so long, so why were you so eager to leave?"

Naruto squirmed again. He wasn't entirely sure he trusted this Kakashi person, Iruka, though he claimed to be friends with him, always seemed to be exasperated with him for some reason or another. Besides, he didn't like to dwell on the subject; even with Iruka, and certainly not with weirdo perverts who read luminous porn, if the text on those innocuous little white pages were to be believed. He went with the easy answer, though he couldn't help the stuttering that usually accompanied all his lying attempts, which typically had him sounding like some sort of mental patient.

"Eh…well, Konoha is…very beautiful, but…well, ano…. I'm pretty sure that-that Iruka-sensei stayed because of me- for as long as he did anyway. I didn't ask him to! But-well…. Iruka-sensei is…. kind like that isn't he?" he murmured softly, eyes fading into a soft hazy blue.

Kakashi appeared to grow just as distant as well, and when he spoke, it was low and filled with unvoiced emotions. 

"…Yes, he is, sometimes far more than for his own good."

The sentence lay profoundly in the air, stilling it and making it heavy; as if suddenly the atmosphere had gained the consistency of treacle. It was cloying, and Naruto was eager to remove it. Which he did, with a terrifying ease that had Kakashi somewhat unsettled. 

"Heheh-yeah," the blonde laughed, " but he fusses way too much too."

Kakashi peered at him intently before cracking a small smile of his own, finding that Naruto's demeanour was almost infectious. 

"I can sympathise with that Naru-chan….", his face blanked itself suddenly, and his voice turned light, "so I heard you're friends with Sasuke?"

Naruto choked on his own saliva and choked across the coffee table. When did _he _get put into the conversation? He certainly didn't want to think anymore about that yarou, especially when he made him feel things that were uncomfortable and difficult to explain. The older man's knowing tone was equally as disturbing, and he hurried to disabuse any of the ridiculous notions that Kakashi seemed to be insinuating. 

"I'm- I'm not friends with Sasuke!" he eventually spluttered out, inwardly banging his head against a wall for stuttering; he didn't have any conflicting thoughts! None at all. 

Kakashi, just like he thought he would, didn't seem to entirely believe his oh so believable refute, and simply smiled infuriatingly at him.

"Oh, gomen, gomen, I didn't know you were going out already-"

Naruto felt his face flame red, and fervently wished for something to stop this conversation _right now_, didn't really matter what; the floor falling in, an unexpected heart attack, abduction by aliens, _anything!_

"We're most certainly not going out either!"

He settled however, when extraterrestrials didn't suddenly whisk him away, for yelling in righteous indignation. His pride however, wasn't entirely safeguarded, if the malicious look in Kakashi's eye was any indication.

"Oh, now don't be shy naru-chan, I can tell that little Sasu-kun is fond of you, I can see you are too-"

"No I AM NOT! Shut up you, you, you -_pervert_!"

Kakashi appeared hurt by the brash insult. Naruto decided that Kakashi was a horrible actor. 

"Naru-chan I'm hurt, I am not a pervert."

"You're reading porn!"

Kakashi peered down at his orange book almost in bemusement, as if only just realising that he was still clutching it in his hands. He blinked.

"Oh….well, Icha Icha is far more than _that_ but then" he sighed in bereavement, " I can't really expect _you_ to understand the complexities, action, drama, and excitement of a true romance novel….maybe when you and Sasuke-kun finally admit your love to one another…" he trailed off meditatively, fingering for the next page to turn.

Naruto felt an eyebrow 'twitch', and grit his teeth as he clenched tightly on the sofa arm, his grip hard enough to snap off the wood. 

"No one will be admitting their ' love for one another' very soon, Kakshi-hentai…", spat out Naruto with great restraint. The sofa arm creaked in warning.

Kakashi pressed on regardless. He was either deaf or suicidal, in Naruto's opinion. It didn't occur to the blonde that Kakashi could possibly be fishing for information with his relentless teasing, but then again, Kakashi was unreasonably skilled in such devious actions. 

"I can see that….aa, denial is such a horrible thing, isn't it Naru-chan?"

Naruto glared at him, though he was horribly aware that his actions would pale in comparison to Sasuke's, which merely caused his frown to deepen further, the creases spreading like spilled ink. He pointedly turned away, chanting in his head how much Iruka disapproved of him fighting. He supposed the brown haired man wouldn't take it very well in his own home. He huffed.

"Maa, maa no need to be like that- I was only joking."

Naruto refused to turn back around, feeling the odd itchiness return in the lull of conversation.

"Things like that aren't funny…." He muttered darkly under his breath, and proceeded to glare a hole in the table. Or tried to at least. While Uchiha glares had been known to melt lead based paint, Naruto was so severely lacking that not even a marshmallow would wilt under his fierce gaze. 

"So you're really not in any sort of relationship with Sasuke?" asked Kakashi lightly, sounding as disinterested as ever as he lazily turned his attention back to the book in his hands.

Naruto wrinkled his nose in confusion again.

"…Define uh, 'relationship', coz we sorta know each other…."

Kakashi gave a weary sigh, the exhale gusty in its force. 

"Never mind Naru-chan."

Naruto jolted for the last time, and frowned at the languid man. 

"Uh, why do you keep calling me Naru-chan?"

Kakashi looked up from his invigorating, yet questionable reading material to observe Naruto idly, before smiling indulgently. 

"Oh, well, that's because you are so cute, you're obviously the uke and-"

"Kakashi!"

Iruka had come bustling back into the living room, looking slightly worse for wear with his shirt rolled up, and dark stains on his fingers. 

"Iruka-koi, how nice of you to join us!" exclaimed Kakashi.

"Iruka-koi?" questioned Naruto, wondering if Iruka could clarify the strange man's 'nicknames'. 

Iruka appeared incredibly flustered and he blushed, the red rushing across his nose to follow the trail left by the scar that marred the same area. He coughed into his hand and moved to join them at the sofa. He gave Kakashi a stern glance as he walked past.

"Naruto, don't listen to a word he says," he said firmly, treating the other man to a narrowed stare.

Naruto perked up a bit, not about to let an opportunity for retaliation pass by. 

"Oh, I don't," he said brightly, " he's a complete weirdo anyway- you can barely make out his face, I wouldn't trust any of him- let alone what he _says_."

Kakashi sent him a mock glare, which nevertheless gave the blonde some feeling of smugness, before it was washed away like sand in the tides as Iruka immediately reprimanded him.

"Naruto don't be so rude!"

Naruto gaped at him, the injustice of having Iruka-sensei abandon him stinging, and his faced scrunched up in confusion at the sudden turn about.

"Bu- wha, Iruka-sensei!"

Meanwhile, Kakashi seemed to have stolen his smug victory.

"Why thank you Iruka-koi, I _love_ it when you defend me."

Iruka then snapped at him too.

"Quiet you."

Naruto felt vindicated, and settled down happily onto the cushions.

"Now Naruto, I'm afraid if you'd excuse Kakashi and me, we have something very important to talk about."

Naruto frowned in his confusion, and shot glances to both Iruka and Kakashi, not trusting the seemingly understanding looks that flickered over his head. He knew better than to argue however, and uncertainly stood.

"…Oh…sure, I'll be in my room, got stupid homework anyway…" he mumbled, snagging his bag from the floor as he headed off. He cast one more hesitant glance behind him, before he disappeared round the doorframe and off to his room.

* * *

As soon as Naruto vanished from sight, the atmosphere dropped several tones in brightness, and the evening that had been waiting to claim the room won out, casting dark shadows through the bay windows. Both settled themselves on the furniture and remained pensively quiet. Iruka was waiting for Kakashi to start explaining, while said man appeared perfectly intent to simply continue reading, though the hand holding onto the orange cover had tightened considerably. 

Iruka's patience eventually seemed to wear thin and he bit his sentence out into the suddenly tense air.

"So, Kakashi, why are you _really_ here? And none of your stupid excuses either." he added sternly when he saw the other man open his mouth to spew out some undoubtedly lame excuse about pigeons or something equally ridiculous. Iruka was quite sure that he had heard them all.

Kakashi sighed, and lent forward, closing his book with a soft snap. Seemed like he wouldn't be getting away with taking a back seat this time. He hated having to see Iruka under such sober circumstances. 

"I'm sure you know about the party on Saturday night?"

The sentence caught Iruka off guard, and he hesitated before quietly replying.

"…. Yes- I know about it," he finally said grudgingly, conjuring images of blank blue eyes before he could stop them.

"Well, there was an incident-"

"Yes," Iruka interrupted, "about the man who tried to-….Kiba, a classmate, told me all about it-" he faltered, " and about Sasuke too…"

Kakashi gave another drawn out sigh, this time accompanied with a hand running through his hair, as he shifted to lean even further forward, leaning his elbows on his thighs, grey eye serious in its intensity.

"Yeah, well Sasuke didn't just get mad…."

Iruka fought down his apprehension with difficultly.

"Oh?"

Kakashi nodded grimly.

"When I saw him later that night- he was _violent_, lashing out, if you know what I mean…" he trailed off suggestively.

Iruka's eyes went wide and he quickly murmured a frantic reply, feeling the worry settle deeply in his stomach, like a large wet rock.

"But surely that's just his youkai instincts flaring up, I'm sure he'll get a hold on them soon enough…" he countered to Kakashi's unsaid theory.

The silver haired man shifted slightly.

"I wish it were that simple- but when I found Sasuke- he had the Sharingan- not to mention he attacked me, regardless of my age and greater experience, which should have been by far enough to cow him if he lost his cognitive control," he said dourly, looking merely contemplative, but Iruka could tell he was more than a little bothered about the sudden turn of events. Iruka himself felt the worry inch up his throat, causing it to go dry.

"But what-? No…. he lashed out?" asked Iruka, nibbling his lower lip in consternation. 

Kakashi nodded once more, peering out the bay windows contemplatively. 

"It wasn't just defensive either, he was testing the waters…. normal teenagers are bad enough, but a maturing dominant youkai as well? Especially as Uchiha's are known to be prone to be more…. violent. Sasuke is from powerful ancestors and a strong line as well, and it shows- he has a much higher potential then I do."

Iruka felt his mouth go dry as well, and swallowed with difficulty.

"But surely you were expecting this?" he asked in concern.

"I was- to an extent. But something else has been thrown into the mix- the last thing I could ever predict happening with Sasuke, especially so early on."

Iruka gazed at him in confusion, obviously not following. Understandably it was a little difficult for him; he wasn't the one who knew Sasuke after all. Though, it was an unusual occurrence when he couldn't read his lover, and now was one of those times. Kakashi was sitting very still, and his visible eye was glazed with hidden thoughts. 

Kakashi gave a half groan as his gaze flickered ever so briefly over in the direction to Naruto's room. 

"He only got so violent after the incident involving Naruto…"

Iruka felt himself go cold; as if he had been dipped into the freezing waters of the Artic. No, that couldn't be…. he refused to even think of it! Kakashi was clearly out of his mind.

"No!" he whispered incredulously, " You don't think-"

Kakashi replied in the affirmative, voice uncharacteristically severe.

"Its exactly what I think, Sasuke may be unaware of it, but subconsciously, he's already latched on-"

"No! No, no, no, no, no, no, no!" Iruka denied vehemently, still retaining to whispers, "This _can't _be happening. I don't know about Sasuke, but they're far too young for this, Naruto most definitely- he doesn't even know about being a jinchuuriki…"

"He doesn't?" asked Kakashi sharply.

Iruka faltered a little under Kakashi's accusing gaze, and unconsciously fidgeted.

"No, but I'm sure he has his suspicions, they are only so many times one can engrave 'demon' onto your door…"

"You have to tell him," ascertained Kakashi harshly.

"What!" squawked Iruka.

Kakashi fixed him with a chastising gaze.

"Whether you like it or not Iruka, Naruto is going to start changing _very_ soon, and if he's in contact with Sasuke, that's just going to speed up the process. He's going to be growing up, and having to deal with everything that will entail for him- and soon too. I'm not sure exactly how, with him being only a jinchuuriki, but he's exhibiting youkai tendencies already."

They slunk back into silence, Iruka looking lost while Kakashi observed him with little sympathy. It was obvious that Iruka had developed a strong attachment to Naruto, but he was also nursing a skewed vision of the boy too; the little blonde may be a bit naïve- a fact only reinforced with his sudden placement in a new culture, but Iruka for couldn't coddle him for much longer. It wouldn't be healthy for either of them in the long run, especially if Naruto really did become a youkai. 

"…. How do you know…?", mumbled Iruka at length, voice soft in the darkening light of his living room. 

Kakashi couldn't help but heave another sigh for the evening, weariness reflected deep into his tone.

"I can already smell it on him, not to mention his little 'relationship' with Sasuke."

Iruka was silent once more as he mulled it over. It was certainly out of his hands over what would happen to Naruto biologically, but he could certainly intervene with this…mess with the Uchiha. He stared sharply at the man sitting on his sofa.

"I don't want him going near that boy anymore Kakashi- you said it yourself, Uchiha's can be particularly violent- I won't allow-"

He was interrupted by a bout of bitter chuckles.

"Good luck with that Iruka," he said wryly, "I certainly wouldn't want to get in Sasuke's way-"

Iruka felt himself swell with impatience, why was Kakashi making this so difficult? They were only children for heavens sake- he dealt with them everyday!

"He's only a child for gods sake, surely you can handle one unruly teenager!"

Kakshi remained unaffected by Iruka's outburst and evaluated him critically with his single grey eye. He worded his answer carefully before speaking.

"…. He's not going to be a child for long Iruka- especially with Naruto around. Its' only a matter of time before he seriously begins to try to test his limits- and Sasuke, well. He has all the makings a very fearsome youkai. I wouldn't want to get in his way."

Iruka huffed in irritation. 

"You said it yourself that he doesn't consciously know about Naruto, if I just take him away from here then-"

Kakashi didn't even let him finish. 

"Iruka, do you not remember what I did, hmm?" he reminded, "What we went through? And we were adults. And this is not the only reason why I don't want to cross Sasuke in future. Besides, I don't think Naruto will object very much either."

Iruka looked taken aback with the very idea.

"That's because he doesn't know what he's in for!"

Kakashi began to look impatient, and when he spoke, his voice came out harsh enough to crack glass.

"He's not like _you _Iruka- he'll have his _own _instincts to contend with when the time comes, that's what all of us, in the end, are no more than slaves to," murmured Kakashi. 

Iruka was defeated by that, but clearly only regrouping for a later confrontation. He bit his lip and turned his head to stare out the misting window, idly wondering whether he should turn the light on as he saw the blare of the streetlight outside. He sighed mournfully, and turned to glance askance at Kakashi.

"…We still don't know what that seal on Naruto does though- this could all be completely irrelevant…." He muttered, content in the knowledge that Kakashi wouldn't be able to wriggle out of that so easily. 

"Exactly," said Kakashi, voice suspiciously cheerful, " which is why I contacted Jiraiya-sama this morning.

"You _didn't!" _gasped Iruka in mounting horror. 

"I did," said Kakashi far too happily, " they're expecting him, and they'll clear everything up so we can plan ahead, ne?"

Iruka stared hard at the man before averting his gaze to his entwined hands. He absently wished for some sweet hot tea to sip. It would work wonders to calm him down. He took a bracing breath and glanced to Naruto's closed door.

"…I'm going to have to tell him aren't I?" he whispered. 

Kakashi remained silent, but the solemn gaze was answer enough.

He sighed, feeling all the resistance drain out of him, a heaviness falling across his shoulders and chest like lead. 

"God, I don't know how he'll take it, especially with all the changes happening, it would be better if it wouldn't interfere with his life but-"

"Iruka calm down, lets just take this one bit at a time. First, you have to tell Naruto about the Kyuubi no Youko."

"No Kakashi-"

"Iruka-" growled Kakashi warningly.

"_We _shall be telling him," ascertained Iruka with a decisive look that challenged any argument. 

Kakashi suddenly had the mad desire to fling himself out the nearest window in a bid for freedom.

"…We?" he asked tentatively.

"Yes, I'm sure you can add many an explanation to the discussion," said Iruka somewhat sourly.

"But-" he tried to protest but Iruka could be incredibly sadistic when he wanted to be and ignored him..

"Naruto! I have something I need to speak to you about."

There was no response.

"…. Naruto!"

…

"Naruto, get your disobedient self out here right now!"

With much grumbling the door to the blonde's room was wrenched open, and Naruto swiftly made his way to the living room, staring a little as he saw them sitting in the dark like a couple of plotting pyromaniacs, before he snorted and flicked on the light switch, making the two men blink rapidly. 

"Che, but Iruka-senseeeiii, I was right in the middle of-"

"I don't care," interrupted Iruka seriously, " We have something very important to discuss with you."

Naruto frowned slightly and gave his guardian a cursory look. He distinctly felt that this had something to do with those looks the two were exchanging. He inwardly scowled; he absolutely _hated _being left in the dark. He settled himself on the sofa beside Kakashi, noting the others stiff posture with apprehension, and turned to wait on Iruka questioningly. 

"…Well?" he asked after several long moments of silence. 

Iruka sighed profoundly, and avoided his gaze.

" I don't even know where to begin."

Naruto merely stared, feeling increasingly anxious, as if he was sitting on thousands of pins, and merely waiting for them to sink in; painfully.

"Well, I suppose the beginning is always good yes? Well, Naruto…I've decided that- that you should know about…. well, know about what exactly the elders told me on the day of your birthday, I'm sure you remember."

Naruto gave a hesitant nod, the pins morphing into glinting spikes.

"I just- I just want you to know that I didn't tell you before now because I really didn't think it would help you any…in hindsight I guess that was a completely and utterly _naïve _idea- I just didn't want you to have the burden, though you suffered for it all the same anyway…."

Naruto felt his stomach squirm. Was Iruka finally going to tell him why the villagers had always hated him so, ignored him, treated him as nothing more than a nuisance, a mistake to be purged? He had grown up with the incessant, ever-present question of _why_. It was as omniscient as the villagers general treatment, and as a result had haunted his every step from before he could remember; the cold, uncaring eyes. Even after Iruka had come to Konoha, it constantly lurked in the background, always there, no matter how small. He'd only ever really forgotten about it since he came to Tokyo.

"Iruka-sensei?" he enquired softly, blue eye's almost pleading. 

"Naruto, you remember the festival back in Konoha that everyone would celebrate on your birthday?" said Iruka, voice trembling slightly. 

"Yeah, I remember, the sealing the great nine tailed demon fox…" said Naruto with increasing dread; he could clearly envisage the scribbles that had littered his wooden door, engraved by some of the more rebellious population. Don't say what everyone had thought about him actually held some truth in it?

"Did they ever go into details on how it was sealed?"

Naruto shook his head wordlessly, suddenly feeling incredibly nauseous. He both could, and couldn't see where this was going, the end result only illuminated by a fleeting glimpse that his thoughts had always purposefully skimmed over during his own ruminations.

"Well, as it turned out, when the kitsune came upon your village, and attacked, for whatever reason- the only way to defeat it was to seal it away."

Naruto brought himself to nod.

"But the seal designed for it, was very complex and required a living sacrifice,"

Naruto stiffened, his stillness unnatural. Like an incoming car crash, he couldn't summon a single thought; only wait for the inevitable.

"A newborn baby to be precise," continued Iruka wearily, the words coming out soft, but nevertheless painful, " the umbilical cord only just cut…you were the only child born that day Naruto."

The ringing silence left was deafening in its quietness. Iruka pointedly looked away from the hunched blonde on his sofa and cast a pained glance to Kakashi who remained just as silent as a scarecrow. 

"Naruto?" asked Iruka nervously. The blonde hadn't moved at all, and his hair flopped over his forehead, hiding all expression.

In reality, Naruto felt the spikes stretch into blades as they stabbed right through him; stealing both his breath and life away. 

He could barely think. It was confirmation of a fact that he had never wished to even contemplate; the violent slashes of 'demon' on his door reappeared before him and he repressed the growing urge to heave. Were…were they right, was he a demon? A vicious, brutal, bloodthirsty creature that had claimed many lives? Was that what he was? He- he didn't _think_ so, he certainly didn't _feel_ like one. But even so…he felt his insides writhe uncomfortably with his newfound knowledge, but heatedly assuring himself that he _wasn't _a demon. He didn't have a desire to kill anybody, nor was he called the Kyuubi no Youko either. He was Uzumaki Naruto- whoever that was. But….did Iruka think so?

"Are you alright?" asked Iruka once more, forehead crinkling in concern, as Naruto remained unresponsive to his words. 

"So, all this time, when they scribbled the word demon on my door, they were right?" whispered Naruto eventually. He had to know, he had to know the truth, however horrible it was; he couldn't bear not to.

Iruka's following sigh was not encouraging in the least, and Naruto felt the blades twist brutally.

"Naruto this situation is very complex, not to mention that you have a very skewed perception over demons…."

Naruto darted up his head, glancing askance at Iruka in puzzlement. Eh? Was Iruka implying that demons…weren't awful…or something along those lines?

"What do you mean-"

"At any rate," interrupted Iruka swiftly, "Naruto- just remember, if nothing else, that no matter who or what you are, you will only ever be Uzumaki Naruto, which will never change. You are yourself, and never let anybody ever tell you any different, you understand?

"…. Yeah," he smiled weakly back at Iruka, feeling immensely relieved that Iruka thought of him as the person he was sure he was. Though not entirely comfortable, he felt the sofa cushions far more inviting.

"Good! Now we can move on!" came a suspiciously bright voice from beside him, making him jump; he had completely forgotten about Kakashi.

"Kakashi!" scolded Iruka, but Naruto couldn't help but laugh a little. The solemn atmosphere had lightened considerably, and Naruto was glad for the interruption; he didn't like to brood over things; that was best left to Sasuke, and people like him.

"Well Naru-chan, I just want you to know that Iruka trusts me with this information, and you can talk to me any time alright?"

Though he had only known Kakashi for a little while, he suddenly felt a lot more at ease around the man. If he could still talk to him after hearing that, and smile just as warmly, then it couldn't be so bad, right? 

Right. 

"…Kakashi…." muttered Iruka, somewhat fondly.

"I'll even lend you Icha Icha paradise! No, wait, I'll buy you your own actually…"

"Kakashi!" 

Iruka's good mood rapidly disappeared in wisps of smoke, drifting away as if it had never been. Naruto sighed forlornly; Iruka in a bad mood was never a nice combination to deal with…

"Ano…. before you murder Kakashi-hentai in the kitchen, was there anything else?"

Kakashi perked up once more, and regarded Naruto with a disarming demeanour, which unconsciously made him relax, the slight itchiness fading to a level that was happily ignorable. 

"Oh, yes, Naruto, over the past few weeks, since you've been in Tokyo have you ever felt…. different?"

Naruto frowned at the complete…perverseness of the question. What was that supposed to mean?

"What do you mean?"

"As in, if for some reason, maybe when in danger, that you felt… stronger all of a sudden or looked a little different?"

Naruto looked at Kakashi quizzically, before fixing a look at Iruka that clearly signified how he thought that the silver haired man was crazy and should be removed by the people in white-coats as soon as humanely possible. Iruka returned with a slight glare that signified that he should 'answer the question Naruto!'. 

"Wha-? No, I don't think so-oh."

Oh, yeah. That.

"…Oh?" asked Iruka anxiously, " Naruto-"

"Maa, maa, no big deal, but I'm afraid Naru-chan, that's there's something in the air at the moment," Naruto was now certain that Kakashi was completely mad; as if it were in any question before, "so you're going to have to get your seal checked over."

"Checked! Its not breaking or anything is it!" asked Naruto in disquiet, not feeling that it would exactly be rainbows and butterflies if that happened to be the case.

"No, no- no need to worry Naruto, just a little problem we need to sort out- you see, no one is entirely sure what your seal actually does."

Naruto felt like smothering himself with a pillow. They-they couldn't be fucking serious could they? They didn't know what the seal _did_! Didn't it just keep the Kyuubi or whatever locked up? And if it did happen to do something else, why wouldn't they know? Well, it was all clear now; he was surrounded by idiots- at least _he_ wasn't intellectually challenged, lack of common sense maybe, and perhaps a little socially inept, but _these_ two?

"…. You're joking, right?"

"Nope!" declared Kakashi unabashedly, "But like I said, no need to worry, I'm sending you to a few acquaintances of mine, they have the expertise to look into it and work everything out. You're going tomorrow in fact!"

"Ano, don't I have school?" asked Naruto tentatively. Who knew, if he spoke too loud, the weirdo pervert crazy man might swoop down on him.

"Maa, maa, I'm sure Iruka can get you out of that…"

Naruto gave a small glance of disbelief towards Iruka, indicating his scepticism that Iruka would ever let him out of school for anything. 

"It really needs to get checked over as soon as possible Naruto," said Iruka mildly.

"Alright, I guess," said Naruto uncertainly, wondering just how urgent it was to have Iruka actually let him off during the school day. He squirmed slightly in his seat, "Where is this place then?"

"Oh, I'll write you down some directions. You'll be fine," waved off Kakashi breezily.

Naruto looked on reproachfully, and sent a pleading glance to Iruka. 

But Iruka merely sighed and gave a slight shake of his head.

"Kakashi, just don't make him late…" he said wearily, rubbing the bridge of his nose. 

* * *

It wasn't the first time that Naruto had lay awake on top of his covers, well into the dark hours of the night. He was quite sure that it wouldn't be the last either. On reflection, he mused that he had a very well positioned window for it, as it always seemed to catch the moon and the subsequent light it bestowed. It was…soothing, and allowed him to give some order to his turbulent thoughts, which at the moment, were at their peak.

He had done his best to smile earlier and warm up to Iruka and Kakashi, but the revelations of the day still haunted him, and in the quiet of the night were far too relentless to be simply put aside. 

He shifted on his side somewhat and irritably rearranged his pillow. 

Naruto had always held some idea, from the first memories he could strain himself to remember that he was different from all the other children. And not just in the way they were treated either; he had often thought there was almost a palpable barrier between him and them, one, which could never be crossed. He had ignored it most of his life, his enforced isolation leaving him reaching out for any attention and affection whatsoever. 

But he had never truly forgotten about it. In the past he had simply brushed it off as him never being able to make friends before but now… the feeling had returned, and with new contrasts, that made it impossible to dismiss. With a dreaded squirming in his stomach he now could think of a reason why that was. He _was _different from everyone else, and he couldn't ever change that. 

He had already asserted to himself that he wasn't the demon that tried to destroy Konoha all those years ago, on the very day of his birth; it just couldn't be, he wouldn't hurt or kill people. It was like trying to mix oil and water; it just wouldn't go. And besides, he was born a person _before _the sealing right? So then he was still Uzumaki Naruto. Even Iruka said so. 

But then again, Iruka hadn't denied him being a demon either had he? He'd merely avoided it by saying it was _complicated. _What could possibly be so complicated about it? Unless…unless, maybe the Youko that nestled within him could be…tainting him somehow.

Naruto gripped tightly onto the sheets below him and burrowed his head into the soft cotton of the pillowcase. 

He remembered the tales mother's in the village would tell to their children; of evil spirits and wrathful _tenma_. They were always depicted as ugly and uncivilised, who were drawn to the smell of bleeding flesh. They were inhuman and inhumane; creatures to be feared. 

Naruto didn't fear the Kyuubi no Youko in his belly; he feared what might possibly be himself. And this whole 'seal' business wasn't reassuring either; Kakashi may have tried to pass it off as a little thing, but the amount of times he had told him 'not to worry' was suspicious. And Iruka had looked bothered the entire time. 

Iruka.

The thought envoked both anxiety and warmth; an unpleasant combination on the whole, that made him feel as if he were lying on a bed of snakes. He was anxious that he was being a burden once again; Iruka had always taken care of him; and for little reason it seemed. It was never to the man's benefit and in the village he had to go out of his way all the time. But he felt himself warm at the same time, bathing in the balmy afterglow of someone actually _caring. _About him. A jinchuuriki, as he had sometimes heard Iruka mutter during the dark nights when he was supposed to be asleep.

He sighed, and rolled over onto his back when he realised in frustration that dreams would elude him tonight, and contented himself with staring out at the sky instead. The sliver of silver moon was really quite beautiful, lodged in the dark blue velvet of the night sky. Almost mysterious. 

His thoughts finished their vicious circle as he returned to the feeling he had always known; of being different, separate. 

It was only lately, here in Tokyo that he could feel the distinct difference, before; he hadn't even been aware there was one. For with some people, he didn't feel as if there was this isolation, it felt…freer. Simpler, nice, welcoming even. As if maybe…that was where he was supposed to be. 

He frowned, and wrinkled his nose, in his mind turning over who felt this way, and who didn't. It seemed to be indiscriminate in its application. For example, Kiba and Hinata were good- they felt…close. Even if Hinata could barely summon the strength to say anything out loud and Kiba could be incredibly grating at times. Meanwhile, both Sakura and Shikamaru felt just the same as everybody else. It was strange, and just another weird sensation to add to the growing pile; included were the somewhat painful prickling, and the odd itchiness around Kakashi.

And that just left _him._

The one who created…tingles. 

Uchiha Sasuke. 

Merely thinking of the name made Naruto huff and sit up, blue eye's dark with intense emotion. He just couldn't decide particularly what emotion it was. Regardless, however, it made him restless again, burning with the impulse to…go somewhere, or do something. 

But at the same time, Naruto couldn't deny that it was with Sasuke that he felt the most comfortable, despite him being a complete bastard, holding the demeanour of an ice cube and the prissiness of a thoroughbred cat. 

Truthfully, Naruto wondered how that could even _possibly_ work, even if it abided by the laws of physics (which never made any sense), but it was just something that…was.

Like those swirling red eyes. 

For Sasuke was different too, wasn't he? 

The thought was strangely comforting, and in the early hours of the morning, Naruto was able to drift off to sleep, holding that thought dearly to his heart, to wash away all the sharp claws of loneliness that had been hounding him. For Naruto's greatest fear wasn't the sealed Youko, or what he was, or even what others really thought of him. It was the icy grip of that lost existence that made him shake and tremble, alone on top of his cool sheets. 

* * *

"And where have you been?"

When Kakashi walked through the door to the top apartments, where he resided along with Sasuke, he was immediately accosted by a low dark voice from an equally dark corner. Further inspection revealed Sasuke to be standing in one of the nearby doorways, regarding him with a wary, though mostly irate, stare. 

"Ah, Sasuke-kun," smiled Kakashi, eye curling up, as he felt pre-emptive glee well up, "how sweet of you, you know you didn't have to stay up to wait for me!"

Inwardly, Kakashi could barely contain his marvel at his streak of good luck. Not only was Sasuke practically _begging _him to be teased, he could also fit in a fight if he was lucky. Poking Sasuke until he snapped, and lunged out at him, intent of ripping him to pieces held many plus points for him. Not only was it a good learning curve for Sasuke in his fighting techniques, but it also allowed for Kakashi to blow off his own steam; having such a young and potentially dangerous youkai threaten his authority was grating on him as well.

Sasuke fixed him with an unamused glare and didn't deign to reply. 

"Aa, well it's been a late night, we should probably head off to bed, don't you think?"

Sasuke surveyed him dispassionately and remained unmoved from his position. He blinked slowly as he observed the older youkai, and his dark eyes hardened.

"Where have you been, Kakashi?" the voice was more insistent this time, he noticed idly, and he could almost see Sasuke stirring up for a fight. How unlike him; to get so involved.

Kakashi waved a hand lazily in his direction, though still tensed his muscles for rapid movement just in case.

"Maa, maa, I don't have to tell you all my comings and goings do I?" his question was met with a harsh glare, and Kakashi grinned internally. Working Sasuke up, and fanning the fire on his errant instincts, at the moment was so _immensely_ satisfying. He could practically _see_ Sasuke's metaphorical tail curl over in aggravation. All the years of abuse he'd had to endure was paying off, just for this.

A low growl rumbled from the doorway, and Kakashi benevolently acquiesced. 

"I was at Iruka-koi's, it is the _best_ place to relax…."he trailed off, glancing from the corner of his eye over to the Uchiha's souring dark mood. 

"So that's why you smell of Naruto then…" 

It was grumbled, perhaps even barely half-heartedly, but Kakashi heard it all the same, and he mentally rubbed his hands together for the approaching windfall.

He smiled disarmingly.

"Well now Sasuke-kun, no need to worry, I won't steal your lovely little lover away from you…"

Kakashi waited in the poignant silence, taking in the Uchiha's darkening expression, stiff with the tension for his answer from the younger boy. There was silence; but Kakashi retained hope, after all Sasuke virtually had his hackles up. Soon…soon….

Kakashi continued, determined, "I'm perfectly satisfied with my Iruka-koi, no need for the aggression Sasuke-kun,"

Another silence then…

"Who would be satisfied with just a human?" asked Sasuke enigmatically, the shadows of the unlit apartment hiding his features from view, save for the light reflected off of his eyes.

Kakashi let a smirk break out across his face, taking the utmost delight in ruffling the Uchiha up further. Nearly there…just a bit more.

"Maa, don't look so cross Sasuke-kun, one would almost think you wanted to kill me," he chuckled, but inched slowly backwards, trying to find his door handle, "I wouldn't ever want to take Naru-chan for my own anyway."

…

"See that you don't."

And with that ill-omened statement, the Uchiha slid back from the doorway, and disappeared. 

However, for Kakashi, he was left feeling slightly disappointed and uneasy. The fact that the younger youkai had been so silent, _and_ that he hadn't had an enraged adolescent youkai crash against his bedroom door as he slipped inside was more than worrying. For that meant that Sasuke was _thinking_, plotting, and was getting more control over himself than Kakashi had previously presumed. 

Sasuke was growing up fast. And dangerous. 

With a pensive look to the doorway from which Sasuke had retreated, Kakashi mulled over his options; he should be a bit more careful in the future.

Nevertheless, as he moved into his room and threw his jacket over a chair, inside he was struggling to keep the lid on his bout of maniacal laughter that desperately wanted to escape. The Uchiha may have denied him an overreaction; but he'd been given information of far greater importance during their altercation.

_Oh Sasuke, you've admitted it now…. _

* * *

**A/N:Ooh, am i starting the chase? Most likely. I love pervert!Sasuke so very, very much...#sighs wistfully. Anyway, hope you found something interesting in there, this is my longest chapter yet! Next chapter, we're off to see some sannin, oh the joy! And we will finally get a glimpse in Sasuke's head-hopefully,lol. **

**Another note, my poll on the inclusion of mpreg is still going, but i'd like to address some general concerns. Some have made their worries known over them being too young, and it bringing in the dreadedangst. I would just like to say now, that should i write mpreg, i would do it properly, and the storyline, by the time it gets there, may be totally unrecognisable- they won't be stuck in school for long (was that a plot point?) and their age wouldnt be an issue for them really. And that i am not a fan of angst.At any rate, no or yes, have your say be voting on the poll, which is on my bio.**

**Well, i think that's it, so review for me (itchases away evil writer's block)and see you soon, ja!**


	12. Fuufaia

Disclaimer:I do not own Naruto.

**A/N: So sorry for the lateness of this chapter, especially as i'm back to 'normal' length ones, but i've been on a bit of a break so to speak, so i've been a bit lazy basically, lol. But i've planned the upcoming chapters, so hopefully they'll be up soon. I hope you like this chapter, and don't be shy with reviewing! I absolutely loved the ones i got for last chapter, so thankyou very much for them!**

Warnings: Some attempt at humour. Really, its a warning.

* * *

**Fuufaia**

Despite the clear blue skies, the day was actually reasonably chilly, explaining why Naruto was currently tightening his jacke

Despite the clear blue skies, the day was in reality reasonably chilly, explaining why Naruto was currently tightening a jacket about himself against the cool spring weather. Apart from the temperature however, it was an extremely beautiful day; the open skies were an intense blue, with only a few white clouds skimming lazily past, and the bright golden sunlight illuminated the freshly growing flora in vibrant green, making sure that every outline was perfectly clear and crisp.

The entire day just seemed so _fresh_, in a way he hadn't experienced since he left Konoha. And today he could waste as much time as he dared on pleasantly observing the surrounding scenery, as not only was he free from school, he was purposefully procrastinating for as long as physically possible.

Who knew that Kakashi's directions would actually be so easy and straightforward?

Naruto had been pleasantly surprised when he walked over to the nearby station that morning and unfolded the hastily given directions from the night before, to realise that they were not hideously complicated or horribly vague, like he had feared, but instead were practical and used signposting of landmarks rather than street names. It had made the entire journey almost painless, with no panic over which trains he was supposed to be on.

In fact, Kakashi had made it so that he had made the distance of over twenty miles in record time. An odd occurrence, considering he had been informed by Iruka on more than one occasion that Kakashi was notorious for being late to absolutely everything. It appeared that Kakashi was even stranger than he had first thought.

And so, he had been left with very little time to actually prepare for his 'check up'. Iruka had bandied him out the door early that morning, looking frazzled and fussed over the zipper on his jacket for a good five minutes, before ushering him away with a distracted "good luck". And if Iruka was worried, shouldn't he be as well?

Naruto sighed to himself, and absently pulled a few errant locks of blonde hair behind an ear, frustrated with the way the wind blew them every which way, and continued ambling along the road side.

He would be lying if he said he wasn't nervous, but it was somewhat undermined by the fact that he didn't quite know what _could _be wrong with his seal in the first place. Kakashi's voice echoed in his head.

"_-you see, no one is entirely sure what your seal actually does."_

Baka scarecrow. And he told him not to worry. Bah.

Naruto huffed, and scuffed his trainers along the floor as he walked along the pavement. Quite a lot of his anxiety over this was doe to the fact that he had been sent to a Temple of all places. A place where there were priests. Naruto did not have good past experiences with priests, and after finally escaping most of the spiteful stares of the villagers back in Konoha, he wasn't keen on being subject to them again.

Especially for a whole afternoon, all by himself, when he was already strung out enough to pass as a bloody violin.

He had to know though, he had to find out what this seal actually did, and if so, whether there was something wrong with it.

A necessary evil, and oh how he hated it.

As he walked, he idly wondered to himself on _how_ exactly they were going to 'examine' it. They'd want to look at it surely, and he was acutely aware where it was placed. The idea of having to show his stomach to total strangers did not sit well with him at all; the mere idea made him want to squirm away. He would just feel so…exposed- vulnerable. No doubt they'd want to touch too; Naruto shivered. No doubt they would have cold hands to boot.

Really, the entire situation made him want to growl, yell, and tell Iruka to simply piss off because this was about the last thing in the world he wanted to do.

Unfortunately, he _had_ to know.

Naruto let out a long suffering sigh as he stopped, glancing surreptitiously to the crinkled paper in his hand to verify that he had indeed finally arrived.

It was most certainly a sight, he mused, as he paused hesitantly at the entrance.

In Tokyo, open spaces of greenery were a rare sight to behold; even if this place was quite far from the city centre. It had been quite jarring for Naruto when he first arrived, to suddenly be living in a forest of concrete high rise buildings, when he had not been used to anything past wooden, one floor housing with plenty of space in between.

But he supposed that this must be a temple of some importance, or at least merited enough for some scared ground for the premises. The entire area he had been walking through had seemed more wooden than glass and steel, and it made the sudden sight of a possibly millennia old structure easier to tolerate.

The entrance was framed by a pair of gates, wooden of course, dark brown from age and the intricate patterns carved into it were dulled by the leeching of countless rainfalls. From there, leading out into a large, square patch of grass was a dirt path, a rustic sight that warmed Naruto with its familiarity. It led up a slight incline, all the way to the grand temple itself, which boasted its name in the calligraphy kanji written upon the door.

**_'Fuufaia'_**

Frankly, Naruto thought it quite an odd name, but easily shrugged it off; maybe they had different ways of naming things here, even before the City of Tokyo sprung up.

The temple in itself was almost painstakingly identifiable as something that wouldn't look out of place in the countryside. It was both a comfort and a source of more anxiety. It was a stupid connection to make, but people from the country had always looked down on him, and the reminder of his old village brought back his mild feelings of apprehension.

He peered round the gate corner, hiding himself in its thick width. He wavered there for several moments before bracing himself and strolling up the dirt path to the temple entrance. He smiled softly as he noticed a blooming Sakura tree in the small grounds, the pink petals fluttering in the wind.

He paused for less than a moment as he passed over the threshold, and squinted in the sudden gloom that blocked out the golden shafts trying to pierce through the beaded curtain of the open doorway. Swallowing heavily, and trying to ignore the sudden intense fragrance of burning incense, he walked forward, already knowing that he would probably find someone in the back.

He caught a glimpse of old embroidered yukata through a doorway and cursed the aged floorboards that gave him away as he saw it shift.

"Ahh, you must be the gaki that Kakashi was talking about," said the strange man that had risen pleasantly.

Naruto felt himself inwardly bristle at being called a brat (he was not a _child_ damn it!) but simply nodded to the floor, sneaking a peek at the old man from under his lashes.

He was certainly far odder than any priest he had ever seen before; he was wrapped up in a variety of grey, red, and dull green, layers of it in fact. White hair, spiky and coarse, fell all the way down his back, and two thick tear trails of red marked his face. Naruto guessed him to be about fifty, maybe a little more.

"Uh, yeah, that's me," he said uneasily, as the man just continued to stare intently at him.

They locked eyes, beady black and wide blue, before the old man humphed, and shifted out the doorway, beckoning him into the somewhat dingy room.

He made to follow but stopped short as he saw the other occupant of the room still sitting at the low table, which was littered with old scratch cards and a couple of half drunk bottles of sake. The woman herself sitting beside it however, was even more worrying; she appeared uncharacteristically young, with perhaps the largest chest he had ever seen, and she had forgone a usual yukata for a green coat that loosely hung on her shoulders. She lent forward on the table with her elbows and regarded him with an unfriendly frown and sharp brown eyes that seemed much older than her appearance suggested.

He was distracted from his stupor by the slight grating of a door sliding open, and he was startled to realise that the back wall wasn't actually a wall at all, but a very heavy sliding door, the paper a similar colour to the wood. It was only open a fraction but it was enough to reveal an eye, yellow and slit.

Naruto stared as a shiver raced up his spine, and the white haired man quickly followed his vision and promptly moved to slam the door shut, turning round to beam disarmingly at him, even as an indignant hissing sounded from behind the paper.

The woman tutted, and gave a banging slap to the door, which Naruto was anxious to see actually _shuddered._ The hissing stopped, and Naruto felt the unnerving urge to simply run. Run far, far away.

He glanced about the small room; he noticed there were no windows.

Just…what sort of place was this?!

Oh shit, they were drug dealers, weren't they? Or even worse, murderers who would then sell his body parts on the black market, or even rapists who enjoyed innocent little blonde boys.

How did Kakashi even _know _these people?!

The old man indicated him to sit and though he did so with little fan fare, inside he was bawling his little inner self's lungs out. He was going to die wasn't he?

"Right gaki, you're…." he trailed off, and then looked confusedly over to the woman, who was still only peering at him lazily, before he started to randomly search the mess of paper that was the table, shoving abandoned lottery tickets to the side.

"Uh, it's Uzumaki Naruto," he said crossly, folding his arms. If they were going to use him for all sorts of nefarious purposes then they should have at _least_ the decency to actually remember his name.

The man stooped his searching and paused for a moment, hand hovering over the table, before he pulled it back, and smiled congenially at him, wrinkles furrowing around the eyes.

"So," he said decisively, "Kakashi sent you, did he? Well, you're lucky we agreed to see you, I am after all, the legendary Jiraiya, and this over here is Tsunade, best in her field."

Naruto glanced at the both of them unbelieving, vaguely wondering that maybe that sentence would be more believable if attached to things such as alcohol consumption. He wisely kept his mouth shut, however, in fear he would rile them; no need to rush his demise, might as well enjoy his last few minutes on earth after all.

Tsunade snorted at both Jiraiya's spiel and Naruto's incredulity. She sipped at her cup that was dangling from a hand, but said nothing.

Jiraiya's face pinched and he absently scratched at his nose.

"Kakashi mentioned that you needed a seal checked?" he continued to peer down at Naruto sceptically, even as the blonde nodded, "That would make you a jinchuuriki, and frankly gaki, you don't exactly look like much."

Naruto felt himself flush red as he immediately took offence. How dare this weirdo underestimate him, huh? It was because he was short, wasn't it? He glared, and immediately raised himself off the floor onto his knees, determined to rectify Jiraiya's obviously incorrect assumption.

Just as he opened his mouth however, he was quickly cut off as he was jerked back down by the collar.

"Calm down brat," said Tsunade admonishingly, looking down at him with the same sort of gaze that Iruka often held; the 'do as I say and you may survive' sort of thing.

From previous experience, Naruto gave a sharp nod and settled back down. Jiraiya didn't even seem to have noticed, he was leaning back from the table and was humming contemplatively.

"Well, what is it exactly that needs checking? Kakashi wouldn't have sent you to us if it weren't important.

Naruto sighed in despair.

"Kakashi-hentai," he ignored the muffled snorts coming from the room's other occupants, "sent me over here because he doesn't even know what my seal actually _does," _he muttered darkly, once again cursing the silver haired man as an incompetent idiot.

His mood wasn't helped by the fact that both Tsunade and Jiraiya merely stared at him, blinking in surprise.

"Ha!" finally erupted Tsunade, "he doesn't even _know, _Kakashi's not so great with seals as he likes to think he is."

She huffed, downed her cup of its suspect contents and then stumbled to a stand, causing Naruto to wince inwardly. She turned and began to rummage through some shelves, while giving a wonderful view of her back.

He noticed the symbol on her coat. Gamble; well that at least cleared up the presence of all the discarded scratch cards, though was still not encouraging for his health.

She finally turned back and looked at him pointedly, her voice suddenly serious.

"If we don't know your seals nature then it must be an incredibly complex one; we'll need to give it a thorough examination and then try to decipher it. It could take weeks, depending on how intricate the design is. We shall also have to know exactly what demon it is that is currently taking residence within your body. You will have to go under an examination, which we shall perform today, which will be done by myself. We'll send you the results, do you understand?"

She asked all of it in the same monotone of a doctor, and he recognised the voice as nothing more than a formality. He wasn't exactly too keen on this 'examination' business, but he couldn't complain.

"Hai, hai, Baa-chan…" he muttered.

Well, not much.

Tsunade narrowed her eyes at him, while Jiraiya burst out into laughter. The blonde woman hissed at him to get up, and directed him roughly to a hard-as-rock bed that was jammed into one corner, which was doubling as the 'examinations table'.

His predictions about the whole thing proved true, much to his dismay.

She first asked him which demon he housed, as apparently Kakashi had not been very forth coming. Then, after her eyes had returned to normal size, she requested to see his seal, which had then led to the incredibly uncomfortable position of lying on his back, and exposing his poor navel and stomach to her prodding. The entire situation unnerved him greatly, and he soon was struggling with the urge to rip himself away from the prying eyes and cover himself up again.

Which was really quite odd, considering he'd never had such serious qualms about exposing himself before; he had often gone without a shirt completely during the summer before. With his new discomfort, he was reduced to trying to quell his squirming, and attempting to desperately hide his great displeasure with the situation. Tsunade didn't comment, so he supposed it was natural, but what he didn't see was the covert glace Tsunade exchanged with Jiraiya.

An instinctual unwillingness to present vulnerable parts of the body; a classic sign of intrinsic youkai behaviour.

Tsunade prodded and poked, and even _stroked_ for over half an hour, carefully copying out the design, tracing parts of it, and calling out to Jiraiya to note down certain words or phrases that made no sense to Naruto whatsoever. When she finally pulled away, he couldn't contain his sigh of relief, as he was able to yank down his shirt and zip up his jacket once again.

Tsunade sighed and seated herself back down at the table heavily, hand reaching for her newest stack of unopened lottery tickets.

"Well then gaki, if you wouldn't mind answering a few more questions then-"

Jiraiya fell silent as the heavy sliding door grated open, wider this time, to reveal the owner of the eerie yellow eyes. Long dark hair, earrings, and rope, was all Naruto was really able to gleam, his previous fear of rapists and kidnappers rising once more as he decided that really, he had been here far long enough for one day. Tsunade and Jiraiya were obviously distracted by the man's presence; the perfect time to attempt his escape!

Naruto began to inch towards the door.

"Orochimaru," hissed Tsunade lowly, "what are you doing out here, you know you're not allowed."

The man smiled, which made Naruto begin to make his 'inching' faster.

"Well, Tsunade," spoke the man; though the word 'speak' really didn't do the man's speech patterns justice, it was more like venomous oil given form in sound.

"It seems that I've misplaced something."

Jiraiya laughed nervously, and spared a glance to Naruto, who promptly halted in his endeavours to get the hell out of there.

"Oh?" asked Tsunade darkly, "and just what have you lost, Orochimaru?"

The pale man gripped the edge of the door, but did not step into the room, though he loomed over into it. From behind him, there was nothing but dark to illuminate his thin figure.

"It seems that Manda has escaped again," he said lightly.

Tsunade blanched and Jiraiya jerked.

"_Manda?!_ Oh, is that all?! The sneaking, _venomous_ pet snake of yours?!" cried out Tsunade indignantly.

Jiraiya flickered his gaze uncertainly between the two before turning to Naruto.

"Eh, think you should probably head off-"

Before he could finish, Naruto's blonde hair was already well out the door and on its way to freedom.

Jiraiya sighed at the empty space and turned back to his now bickering 'friends'. Tsunade was yelling, and Orochimaru appeared completely unperturbed. Just like any other day then…

Outside, Naruto was running for his life, determined to get as much space between him and _that place_ as possible. As soon as he saw Kakashi again, he would kill him!

Kill him!

No, wait!

Tell _Iruka, _and have _him_ kill him. Much more satisfying, Naruto thought to himself vindictively as he practically flew down the steps to the station.

Elsewhere, Kakashi sneezed, and felt a shiver race down his spine. Huh. Maybe he was getting ill, he'd have to get Iruka to make that special tea of his again.

* * *

Naruto sighed in boredom and continued to scribble on some scrap paper with his pencil, paying particular attention to embellishing the artistic fan he had been slaving over for the past five minutes.

It was Wednesday morning, and could he really be blamed if he had stopped paying any attention whatsoever to Kurenai-sensei? Form time was such a boring time of day anyways, and they never did anything; just Kurenai reading out a list of boring notices and the register, as they were all forced to sit there in silence, often trying to covertly finish their homework before lessons began.

"The social committee would like to inform you that this week…lessons will finish early on Friday for clean up time…"

It was nice for some time to think by himself though. The night before he'd been forced to do the work a concerned Kiba had dropped off after school, under the spread presumption that he had been ill. Iruka had been fussing enough over the fact that he'd missed a school day and had hovered like a hawk until he'd finished every single last algebra equation. And then, it had been far past his 'bedtime' as Iruka was fond of calling it, and he'd been shuffled off to bed.

He'd barely had the time to inform Iruka about the molesting weirdo's at the temple, though he was rewarded with the dark look that promised nothing but retribution to Kakashi that adorned Iruka's face for most of the night. He could have sworn he'd heard Iruka mutter, "I told him not to contact Jiraiya- that super pervert…"

He hadn't felt inclined to say that it had been Tsunade that had carried out the examination.

And now he was back in school. It seemed like forever since he had been here, or talked to any of his friends again, even if he had only missed a day, so much had happened in the time in between, including the revelation about the Kyuubi, Kakashi and the temple yesterday. In fact, the last person he had spoken to was…

Sasuke.

Naruto let out an inaudible groan as he felt the most nagging urge to bang his head against a desk. Hard.

Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke, all thoughts always led back to him didn't they?

He flicked his gaze surreptitiously over in the Uchiha's direction. He sat there with folded hands propped in front of his face, looking as dispassionate as ever. Black hair gleamed blue under the electric lights, stark against the smooth, pale expanse of white skin. Dark eyes were hooded and Naruto promptly turned his gaze away, choosing to glare at the desk top instead as he felt the odd sensation flutter and flop in his stomach once more.

He shifted slightly in his seat; the restless feeling was back again.

He exhaled forcefully in frustration and proceeded to dig his pencil into the paper.

"Now next week…welcome a new…Suna…"

The most irritating thing was that he wasn't entirely sure that he didn't like the strange reactions he got around Sasuke either; his very presence seemed to give him so much…so much… _energy_. To do what, he wasn't sure, but the odd exhilaration and thrum of adrenaline was addictive and much to his own disgruntlement, he'd discovered that he was half tempted to seek it out for more. Which meant being near Sasuke.

Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke.

He scowled at the tip of his blue pencil. He shouldn't think this much about one person, it couldn't be natural! He shouldn't feel so drawn to him either, but nevertheless, when he'd entered the classroom that morning, the first thing he'd done was scan the room for Sasuke.

Sasuke!

Of all people.

It was all just very confusing, not to mention distracting. Last week he was sure that he hadn't liked the boy at all, maybe even hated him. And then there was the party on Saturday, which had been a complete debacle of an event! He still got that itchy, scratchy feeling when people touched him for more than a few seconds and it was almost becoming a serious problem, he'd wince every time Kiba would clap him on the back. Though he'd noticed at lunch on Monday that Hinata seemed to be experiencing something of the same problem, as she'd practically dropped her tray when Kiba brushed past her. Maybe it was some virus going around that made you really sensitive?

Of course Saturday had also held the 'incident', of which Naruto could only most vividly remember Sasuke's dark eyes, up close and in detail. Eyes that not too long afterwards had turned a dramatic red.

And he was back to Sasuke.

He huffed and let his pencil drop from his fingers to roll across his desk as he stretched his legs out.

That was it, he would just stop thinking altogether, that'd keep the bastard Uchiha out of his head.

Feeling accomplished with his new idea, he went back to diligently shading in his little fan drawing.

* * *

Sasuke had had a troubling, yet vaguely enjoyable morning. For one, Kakashi had delighted over aggravating him the entire morning over breakfast, being his usual intolerable self, when he'd gotten a phone call from Iruka. When he'd left for school he'd smirked in viscous glee as he heard the shouting and whimpers echoing down from the office. Then, when he'd got to school, he had been practically relieved to find that Naruto was in today, being his usual blond self.

When he'd seen him enter the classroom that morning, his fingers had twitched and he had to forcibly restrain himself from going over to greet the boy.

You see, Sasuke found himself in a rather unprecedented position.

When he'd felt the urge to grab the blond and pin him against the nearest flat surface before thoroughly ravishing him, it was the first sign to Sasuke that something was amiss.

He'd known that awakening his youkai would bring all the instincts, and therefore _hormones_ with it, but frankly, this was just ridiculous. Oh, it wasn't the fact that he actually felt attracted to someone (which in itself was rather a surprise) but the fact that he was actually having some difficulty restraining it.

He was an Uchiha, he was supposed to posses a will of iron.

And with annoyances such as Kakashi around, you could never be too careful about your true thoughts.

Firstly, he had reasoned with himself, that an attraction to Naruto (_Naruto!) _was not completely perverse. The other boy was a jinchuuriki after all; the concentration of chakra would be more than enough to draw his attention. However, if that were all, he would have been able to resist with far greater ease.

Which in turn led to a more…distressing route of thought. That he actually _liked_ Naruto to begin with, no matter how much of a clumsy, loud, brash idiot of a blond he could be.

Sasuke didn't make a habit of lying to himself; it was counterproductive.

It was therefore he concluded, internally only, that he had a…crush on Uzumaki Naruto. Hard to admit, and never out loud. But if only that were the end of it.

Unfortunately, Sasuke was well aware that it could be something far deeper than a meaningless little crush, or simply physical attraction. He had studied all his life on the subject of youkai, and was well versed in their…mannerisms. He should be; he was becoming one after all.

However, Sasuke hadn't let himself delve into the more serious possibilities of his revelation; it was…an alarming prospect for him, and one that he had never predicted.

He was therefore content to wait it out, and merely observe. No need to be hasty or rash, no matter what the darker side of his youkai desired and whispered to him in the dark recesses of his mind.

He had complete control. Really. Not to mention that he had other, far more important things to worry about at the moment. Sustaining the last phases of the Koumajutsu for example. He didn't need any distractions, least of all _now_. Any issues with Naruto would just have to wait or resolve themselves.

He settled into his seat a little further, lazily surveying the sensei as she listed out the notices in a bored manner over his folded hands, lids hooded in an expression of bored lethargy.

He pretended not to notice the fleeting glances Naruto sent his way. Though he couldn't quite ignore the little flashes of pleasure they invoked at the attention.

* * *

**A/N: Well, how was it? There was some sannin, and i'll just say now, i love irony (Naru-chan drawing his little fans-lol), it amuses far more than it should. Anyway, next chapter shall be veeery interesting, introducing some characters i'm sure you've been dying to see :P **

**Anyway, i adore reviews, and don't forget about the poll on my profile, see you soon, ja!**


	13. Paint, Sand and Paper

Disclaimer:I do not own Naruto.

**A/N:I can't beleive how long its been! I didn't mean for this to take so long, but i suppose all my work has been slow recently. For that i apologize, and i say now, that once my exams are over (early june) then my writing will be going strong once again. Especially in this story-i've re-done the plot (trust me, things haven't even started yet!) and i'm itching to get it out. So, i hope you enjoy this chapter anyway, despite the wait. **

Warnings: The social rejects of Naruto are coming. Beware.

* * *

**Paint, sand and paper**

Naruto peered down at his creation at his workstation and narrowed his eyes critically. He even tilted his head, in an attempt to find _something_ recognizable in the horrendous colourful mess that lay in the epicentre of various bits of discarded paper, pens, pencils and oil pastels.

Humming to himself contemplatively, Naruto leaned back from his observations and concluded that he wasn't born an artist, and it would be the best for him to really just sit there quietly while the others got on.

It wasn't his fault _really_ that it had turned out to be a disaster, he was just a bit too clumsy to go more than five minutes without ruining any sort of drawing he tried to create; he normally placated himself with doodling on scrap paper and no more.

How was he supposed to know that art class would actually be something so valued?

He cast a surreptitious glance around the room; art was by far his least favourite lesson- something that only a few weeks ago would have made him laugh at the mere idea.

But, it turned out to be quite torturous, pent up in a room that absolutely stank of oil and paint, with the dry smell of plaster added in for variety and it only seemed to get stronger every lesson, then there was the lessons themselves. He hadn't been aware that there was an actual technique to _drawing_, and apparently without this skill he was doomed to a life of poorly done art projects. Despite it being some modicum of creative outlet, sitting in complete silence for over an hour and a half was merely far too taxing, and sitting still in one spot and then have the teacher invade your personal space over your shoulder, judging you…. Naruto really didn't like art class.

He could barely restrain his sigh of relief as he heard the distant bell ring, heralding the arrival of lunch.

He hopped off his stool, and quickly gathered his clutter of art supplies together, eager to get out of the place as soon as possible. He was always a little put off that more than half the class remained working through lunch, it made him feel as if he was slacking and they were therefore mocking him for it.

Grumbling, Naruto deemed the unfortunate piece still on the station top unsalvageable, and he let it fall gracelessly into the nearest bin. He flicked his gaze up as he saw the teacher leave the room, trusting that the _dedicated _students wouldn't need supervision.

Feeling somewhat offended, he haphazardly jammed the oil pastels back in their box, uncaring to their precise order and was just about to leave the room when his eye caught the canvas of one of the older students art projects.

It was…beautiful.

"Oh, hello Naruto-kun."

Naruto jerked at being caught, and spun around to see a smiling face.

"Ah, Sai, I didn't see you there, this yours?" he asked curiously.

Sai had always struck him as a slightly odd person. He was even paler than Sasuke, and always had the last few buttons of his school shirt undone, so he could tie them together above his navel. He would always be near constantly smiling, in a way that would leave you slightly uneasy. And the boy's conversational skills were in dire need of some tender loving care. All in all, Sai was actually _more_ than just a slightly odd person, if for nothing more than the fact that he took great care to speak with Naruto every time they happened to come across each other.

Which, incidentally, seemed to be _all the time._

Naruto smiled a little at Sai, and pushed back on the balls of his feet as the silence dragged, the other boy seeming to fall into a contemplative quiet as he observed the canvas critically.

"Hmmm, I suppose it is," said Sai finally, leaving Naruto to gaze at him incredulously.

"How can you say that? It's either yours or it isn't," said Naruto suspiciously.

Sai faced him with another one of his bland smiles.

"Well, when you put it like that…I _was_ the one who composed it, so in that sense it belongs to me."

Naruto smiled hesitantly back and put this down as another reason why to avoid Sai in future; he was just downright strange sometimes, as perfectly demonstrated by this conversation.

"What do you think Naruto-kun?"

Naruto blinked.

"Huh? Sorry…?"

Sai stared at him patiently, and settled back onto his stool.

"The idea of ownership, of possessing something, can be a very abstract subject, don't you agree?" asked Sai pleasantly.

Naruto shifted uncomfortably where he stood; philosophical discussions always flew right over his head, he preferred to think in the here and now, on practical things instead of having his head in the clouds all the time, like Shikamaru was fond of doing during classes.

"If you…say so?" said Naruto tentatively.

Sai smiled a little wider in indulgence, and it appeared that his concurrence had been expected. The pale boy turned back to the canvas, and hovered a single hand over the palette situated to the left.

"Yes…people can say that they _'own'_ something, or that it is their possession, but usually, items have been owned by someone else beforehand- a confusing thing, ne? Who after all, can claim precedence over another?"

Sai moved to deftly lift one of his thinner brushes, peering at the colours left abandoned on the wood.

"And at the same time, people can declare to own things that no one has the right, or ability to claim, things that are…wild."

He paused and looked up thoughtfully at Naruto, who had lost all thread of the conversation long ago. He was now merely attempting to look attentive; he had absolutely no idea what Sai was going on about; only that he seemed to be talking about something else completely at the same time.

Damn it, would people stop talking in multi-layered conversations, it was really starting to annoy the hell out of him!

In frustration, Naruto ignored Sai and returned to simply staring at the picture depicted on the canvas. It was really quite beautiful, which was what had caught his eye in the first place.

It was a nightscape, under the baleful watch of a full moon, the soft silvery light picking up on two beings, who seemed engaged in a timeless dance- one that appeared to be a long haired wolf or dog and the other some type of cat. Both seemed vaguely humanoid, but it was their beauty under the night sky that made them remarkable.

"Hey Sai, what's this picture about anyways?" he asked curiously.

Sai gave him a glance before appraising him, his words careful as he spoke with something akin to reverence, or contempt- it was hard to tell.

"It is supposed to be a representation of the struggles of man, and how conflict is inevitable, yet I do not believe I have quite been able to capture the essence of it here…"

"Uhuh," he nodded, the whole thing going over his head, "but what are the dog and cat things supposed to be?"

"Demons," was Sai curt reply, and Naruto felt his blood freeze, as the room suddenly seemed much smaller than it had before.

Sai gave him a glance that in paranoia, Naruto was sure was knowing. He trembled. How could Sai know? Did he know? That he himself was most likely one of those…creatures himself, that they were real?

He resurfaced to see a smile on Sai's face.

"You seem a little troubled Naruto-kun, do you not like demons?"

The question appeared innocent, but Naruto felt like sweating buckets.

"No," he said breathlessly, "I don't really like youkai at all, I mean- they're always the dark creatures in all the stories aren't they? You'd certainly never want to actually meet one would you?"

"Hmm, yes that is the case isn't it? Demons are the incarnation of all the dark wrongs of the world, not to be redeemed…" Sai trailed off softly and continued his staring contest with his own canvas.

They both fell into silence and Naruto couldn't tear his eyes away from Sai's painted image. He desperately wanted to leave, and when the bell rang from overhead, he quickly made his excuses about being late for lunch and dashed off.

He didn't see how's Sai's smile widened with self-satisfaction, or the way his eyes followed him out the room with intense focus.

* * *

All in all, Naruto's day had not been fun, full of frustration, annoyance and the disturbing content of Sai's stupid picture and chilling words.

'…_the incarnation of all the dark wrongs of the world, not to be redeemed…'_

Well, that was just peachy for him wasn't it? How typical. And just like the stories the villagers would tell too, all the while treating him to cold looks and indifferent stares.

The whole incident had put him in a bad mood the rest of the day, and he had merely prodded sullenly at his lunch, making patterns out of the dark mysterious sauce that came with.

And then, after hardly paying attention in any of his afternoon lessons, he was subjected to Iruka's badly concealed worried glances all the way home, and during dinner too. Apparently, his uncharacteristic appetite had not gone unnoticed.

He was far too deep in his thoughts to care much, and had retreated to 'bed' soon after. It was now several hours later, and he was still lying awake, not even trying to sleep.

The results from the seal inspection were running round his head. What if it confirmed it? What if he was….what if he was a demon? He may know that he wasn't like those foul creatures that haunted children's bedtime stories, but would anyone else? If they knew, then surely they would leave him again; leave him to his loneliness.

Unbidden, he imagined what Sasuke would think. As always when thinking of Sasuke, his lips burned as a reminder and his stomach felt as if he had swallowed some particularly wriggly eels, though this time it was accompanied by a cold searing stab in his chest.

Sasuke….

Only a week ago he had been so determined to stop thinking of him altogether and now…Now he was lying in the dark, using the Uchiha as a source of comfort, however painful it may be. Even his subconscious seemed to be constantly thinking about him, it was like he was obsessed or something.

Which wasn't helping him in the slightest…

He groaned and buried his head in his pillow, feeling irritated that he couldn't even brood properly. It didn't look that hard, Sasuke and others did it all the time.

Ergh. He was sick of all this thinking; it made his head hurt, and just made him irritable. He should just ignore Sai, and wait to see what'd happen. It wasn't as if he could really do anything about it anyways. And even if-…. even if he was declared a-a demon, well, no one else had to know that, did they?

No, no they didn't, nothing had to change…nothing…

And with that last thought, Naruto finally drifted off to sleep.

* * *

"All right class," said Kurenai-sensei crisply that Wednesday morning, "our new student from Suna is here. We should feel privileged that he is joining our form, and if I hear _anyone,"_ she glared red eyes at a nervous looking Kiba in the front row, "giving him a hard time or being less than welcoming, I will personally ensure the harshest punishment possible within the legal realm, _understood_?"

It was times like these, Naruto mused, that made Kurenai-sensei appear both frightening and ominous, along with holding that impending sense of malice that all females seemed to be able to create when angry. He'd seen both Ino and Sakura display it quite a few times already.

And damn, it was _scary._

So, as it was, Naruto was taking the sensei's words very seriously, even if a little hurt.

He was sure she hadn't given the class this kind of talk before _he_ arrived, if even one at all.

The sensation passed quickly, but Sasuke, who was sitting next to him by some cruel twist of fate (or the alphabetical seating arrangements made by a suddenly anal obsessive Kurenai), shifted slightly, and glanced dark eyes in his direction anyway.

Naruto felt the faintest blush grip his cheeks and determinedly turned away.

Sasuke faced back to the front, pose relaxed.

"Right, well I'll be back shortly," said Kurenai-sensei, and she was out the door like a shot, strained smile making her eyes look glassy.

They were barely given the time to talk more than a few hurried sentences before she really was back shortly, the new boy in tow.

The boy stood in the centre near the desk, and as he first gazed upon him, Naruto couldn't retain the shiver.

Burnt red hair lay tousled against pale skin, and green eyes surrounded by what appeared to be smoky eyeliner glared out to every person of the room. The most noticeable feature however, was where the hair parted, allowing the view of a blood red kanji character; love.

"This is Sabaku no Gaara," said Kurenai after some minutes, as it became clear that 'Gaara' wasn't going to say anything. Her smile had become rather fixed.

"Why don't you sit over there, next to Nara-san?"

The boy still made no sound at all, and slowly made his way up the benches.

The class had all fallen unnaturally silent, and some students shuddered as he made his way past.

All eyes seemed to follow him as he took his seat, and when he did, they all snapped back to the front.

Even Sasuke seemed to have tensed up a bit, the rigid muscles across his back giving him away as it shifted his uniform slightly.

Naruto gave the Uchiha a quizzical stare before glancing to Gaara. What the hell was with this guy, to make the whole class act like that? Especially Sasuke, who never seemed to be fazed by anything.

He quickly found his answer as his gaze locked with green and he felt his breath leave his lungs. He found himself paralysed in his seat, body tensing like a coiled spring. In that moment, he instinctively knew that Gaara was dangerous, he wasn't sure how, but he knew. But it wasn't death that those eyes held, but rather a different sort of emotion, one that he might of identified in anyone else as curiosity.

His staring contest with Gaara was abruptly broken and he felt the air return to his lungs. Sasuke had shifted himself back in his seat, cutting off the connection, and Naruto could have sworn he heard the usually stoic boy growl a little.

Just what the hell was going on?

* * *

Bells rang overhead, girls laughed as they sauntered past, and boys played simple games of taunting each other.

Naruto walked passed them all deftly, heading for a more secluded seat near the back, preferably by the window. He ducked as two pathetic paper airplanes zoomed passed by.

He sat down with a huff, letting his bag hit the ground with enough force to jiggle the contents and ruffle his papers. Uncaring, he roughly delved inside to find some scrap paper and his ever elusive pencil.

Naruto, ironically enough, didn't like break time at Shichiyou. Apart from lunch, it was the only one they had, and it was a measly twenty minutes, which was five less once you got to the classroom, and then the time taken to get to next lesson had to be taken into account as well. It was such an innocuous amount of time, that it led to him not knowing exactly what to do with himself, especially as trying to find anyone he knew in such a large school in such a short time was even more difficult than he had first presumed it to be, often leaving him by himself, stranded in an ocean of unfamiliar faces.

And frankly, Naruto did not appreciate the quiet time.

He was so enraptured in his bored thoughts, staring blankly out the window, he never noticed the shadow that fell over his desk, until he heard the noise level around him drop to a deathly hush.

Blinking at the sudden silence, Naruto glanced up and had to squint a little from the glare coming from the brightly lit window behind.

"Uzumaki."

The voice was mechanical and low, with no inflection whatsoever, and it sent shivers up his spine. His fellow schoolmates around him also shuddered, but Naruto was sure he heard something more commanding in his statement- perhaps a question.

With the voice, he was also able to make out dark red hair, and lined green eyes.

Oh.

Gaara.

"Oh! Huh, you're Gaara right?" asked the blonde with only a small amount of uncertainty colouring his usual bright tone. The students around them gave him scandalised glances before edging away.

Naruto frowned, wondering if Gaara would take offence, but the red head seemed not to notice as he gazed with hard eyes at him. In fact, Gaara kept this up for well over a minute not saying a word at all in reply, causing Naruto to start to shift and squirm uncomfortably under it, gaze flickering to the clock and back. What the hell was with this guy?

Just as he was beginning to feel that restless feeling again, Gaara finally made a move, and pulled up a chair with solid, deliberate movements, never once breaking his stare.

It was becoming more than a little unnerving.

"Uzumaki." Repeated Gaara, though this time there was the smallest change in its delivery, sounding more like confirmation of some sort. Naruto inwardly wailed in despair; when would these people start making any sort of sense?!

"Uh, yeah, that's me, so…" he trailed off, looking to the other questioningly, but all he got for his trouble was those same light green eyes, rimmed in black, filling his vision, and making his breath stutter.

He was beginning to feel a slight itch, not unlike those that he received when he touched other people, though this one nibbled at his skin with a far more unbearable intensity, almost painful. His brows twisted into a frown and he pushed down with great difficulty the sudden urge to bolt from his chair and out the door, leaving the other boy behind.

He glanced to the door once more, and fervently wished for the bell to ring as quickly as possible. He didn't know how much longer he could take that fucking stare!

However, much to his fascinated horror, he found he couldn't even open his mouth, like someone had sealed it shut with superglue, like the one Iruka once used to fix his chairs.

Finally, after an eternity, the smallest wisp of speech broke the silence.

"I see," Gaara uttered quietly.

It was then that Naruto felt something irrevocable snap.

His hands where they lay on the table curled into fists, his fingernails digging soft gouaches into the wood. He felt his teeth grind together savagely and his entire posture stiffened in his rage.

It was sudden, unreasonable and boiling hot, as if lava had replaced the blood flowing through his veins. He felt the slight rumble of a growl permeate through his chest cavity as he turned his sights to the still stoic red head beside him, and he imagined, if he had had a tail, it would have whipped behind him viciously in his anger.

Gaara merely blinked at the display, even as previously blue eyes flashed an ill-omened red in his direction. However, his inward reaction was a little more apprehensive of the suddenly enraged boy.

He had wondered, ever since he had been informed of the existence of another jinchuuriki, whether the other boy would have the sort of strength he did. He had spent most of his life living in a bizarre mixture of fear and awe for his abilities, and his earliest memories had been only of suffering. Emotionally dampened as he was, he couldn't help but feel some curiosity at the reluctant uttering of the presence of another vessel. As he observed Naruto, he couldn't help but appreciate the wonderful deathly intent the otherwise harmless-looking blond could summon, without a thought.

A pity he seemed so enthralled with the Uchiha already. But that could always be worked around.

He regarded Naruto silently, as the boy hunched a little over the desk, ready to spring at a moment's notice. They locked gazes, communicating in a way that they didn't even truly understand.

It really was quite convenient that no other student in the room was looking over in their direction; too busy averting their eyes from Gaara to notice.

After a staring match that stretched in a heated silent debate for several long minutes, Gaara flicked his gaze away, peering apathetically at the empty desk over.

Naruto still did not relax however, and no sooner had the bell rung that he bolted out the room like a shot, a curios mixture of flustered, irritated and antsy.

Not to mention unnervingly vulnerable, which did not sit well with him at all.

When Naruto sat much closer than he normally did that lunchtime, Sasuke didn't even say a word.

* * *

Iruka would be the first to say that he had the tendency to worry.

It was what he did; he was a worrier. If someone said they were meeting at eight o'clock, he'd be there at five to, while everyone else would mosey in at a time more fitting to half past. It was who he was.

But when it came to Naruto, the boy somehow managed to send him into a fit of palpitations on a nearly daily basis. He was pretty sure the stress caused was cutting years off his life; it could only be a year or so before he was going prematurely grey.

It was highly doubtful that he would ever have a son of his own, and ever since that time he'd met that lonely boy, neglected on his forever-shadowed birthday, he had thought of the blond as such.

He just simply couldn't help it, and along with the fatherly instincts invoked, his ability to worry over the clumsy child had at least trebled.

Several times over.

Therefore, perhaps Iruka could be excused from his absentmindedness as he completely missed the drying rack and let the cup fall from nerveless fingers to smash into tiny pieces on the ground.

The sound of breaking china startled the man, but he merely stooped to roughly gather the broken shards before just as distractedly placing them in the dustbin.

He'd been like this the entire afternoon, and his state of being was unlikely to change anytime soon.

The reason was quite simple.

Naruto's results would be coming in today.

One's that would affect the boy's entire life. His worry had not been eased by the phone call a few nights's before either, hosting to a shockingly blunt Tsunade.

Iruka was bracing himself for the worst. He just hoped Naruto was as well; he couldn't bear to remind him about it. He didn't want to have to see the usually so bright blond dull and go quiet, practically wilting right before his eyes.

He sighed heavily, and returned to his very slow imitation of washing dishes. Personally, he had no dislike of youkai. He was mated to one after all, for god's sake!

But, he thought, biting his lip, Naruto had been a fed a very skewed view of them since the cradle. His reaction would be so much harder to predict and manage, especially as he could hold quite the temper. He could try to explain, but would the boy listen to him? Was he really the best for the job in the first place? Would Kakashi be better?

And then that opened up an entire new bagful of problems, from Iruka's point of view. No offence to Kakashi, but he didn't want that Uchiha near _his _son. Sasuke would soon be overrun with his new lesser instincts, and having them taken out on Naruto, he just would not stand for!

He barely realised he was gripping onto his sponge so tight that it was squished against his fingers, sending frothy bubbles cascading down into the sink.

The entire situation was both ridiculous, and horridly complicated.

And that was if the results came to the conclusion that Naruto _was_ assimilating the powers and essence of the Kyuubi through the seal in the first place.

They may not have anything to worry about at all.

Iruka heaved another sigh, this time also taking the initiative to brush back a strand of chestnut hair that had fallen over into his eye line.

He gave a glance to the clock hanging on the far wall, mentally thankful that Naruto wouldn't be home for another hour at the earliest. Hopefully the results would come before the blond arrived home.

He wanted to read through them first, just to make sure that there wasn't anything in the contents that Naruto wouldn't be able to handle in one sitting. Iruka had already come to the conclusion that taking the news in more manageable bits would probably be for the best in the long run.

He was placing the last wet plate on the rack when he heard the tell tale knock on the door.

Nervously smoothing down his clothes on the way, he opened to see a bored looking youth, dressed all the way in dark blue. In one hand he held a battered clipboard and in the other a fat wedge of special delivery envelope.

"Umino Iruka?" asked a bored voice.

Iruka gave a jittery nod and quickly signed, practically ripping the envelope from the courier's hands as he slammed the door, unheeding to his usual rules of good manners.

In the hallway of his apartment he stared down at the official looking emblem that denoted work of the Sannin. Stiff with tension, he walked slowly to the living room to sit heavily in the one comfortable armchair, the letter heavy in his hands like a lead weight.

Taking a deep breath in trepidation, he finally flicked it over and tore through the seal, flipping through various sheets and cards until he reached a piece of off-yellow paper that held personal comments.

As his eyes descended the page, the worry flooding his heart grew deeper and deeper, matching the frown crinkling his face. He read the entire page several times over, but the words refused to change. He wondered if he could try to fool himself with the denial that they were wrong but he knew better than most; the Sannin were _never_ wrong.

As he skimmed through the last roughly penned comments by Jiraiya for the final time, Iruka couldn't help the sardonic laugh that erupted through his intense frown.

His son was youkai.

* * *

**A/N:Well, there you go. Gaara is here! and so is Sai! Both will have parts to play. Oh, and i hope you enjoy this innocent school time, this story is going to get deep, and dark. And will contain some M worthy scenes of the sexual and violent kind. I can't wait! **

**So, next chapter we'll see the reactions to the results and some of the crazy will be explained. Until then, read, review and i'll see you later!**


	14. Loss and Gain

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

**A/N: Hey, its been a little while, i'm sorry about the bad updates recently, but not to fear, my exams are over and so i can write much quicker now. This chapter caused me quite a few problems...in fact, it went through 4 edits alone. And i needed much help from my lovely beta. I hope the result is satisfactory, as i'm getting back into the swing of things. Anyway, here's the chapter, hope you enjoy!**

Warnings: Yaoi, swearing, emotional times...and a bit of fluff too to perk us up.

* * *

**Loss and Gain**

Iruka sat still in his flat's one single armchair, mind whirling with the implications of the scribbled notes of the Sannin Jiraiya. The amount of things to now take into consideration was making his head spin and his heart feel weak.

However was he going to take care of Naruto properly now?

How on earth would he tell him?

Every unanswered question that raced through his mind made the pressure on his chest grow heavier by the minute. Around him, the light began to fade, washing him in a grey hue as the lights outside began to flicker on with the approaching onset of night, and still Iruka remained, frozen in his seat.

In fact, he was only roused from his immobility when a strong hand came to rest on his shoulder, giving a faint squeeze.

In his surprise, Iruka jumped, sending the papers previously secured on his lap skittering to the floor. Looking up with wide brown eyes, he was met with silver hair and a comfortingly familiar mask.

"Iruka," said a low voice softly, "what is the matter, hmm?"

Iruka stared at his lover for a long moment, mind now blissfully blank of his previous worries. With an unsettling clumsiness he finally processed the question and gave a faint gesture to the papers lying harmlessly on the floorboards.

As Kakashi made to pick them up in curiosity, Iruka numbly wondered why he hadn't heard the other man come in. It was almost as nasty a shock to find how out of it he was than the information in the first place.

With a great will, Iruka shook his head and attempted to sit up in his chair straighter, giving time for the silver haired man to peruse through the documents at his own leisure.

Kakashi was always good at calming him down and sorting things out. He would know how to go on through this mess. He was sure of it, and so waited patiently for the other man to finish his investigation.

He looked up intently when he heard Kakashi heave a tired sigh.

"Maa, maa, Iruka-koi, this isn't so bad. It was what we were expecting anyway right? No need to look like the world is ending."

Iruka felt a stab of anger percolate through his ditzy state of mind. Why did Kakashi have to be so…cool about _everything!_ Didn't he know how important this was?!

"Kakashi," breathed Iruka through gritted teeth, "you may not have the context of this situation, but I do! You don't know Naruto like I do! This is going to ruin him!"

Kakashi surveyed through his one lazy eye, unmoved by Iruka's declarations.

"Iruka, with a proper explanation everything will be just fine. Maa, you always exaggerate things when it comes to worrying," he waved a hand lazily, "I'll even explain it to him if you want- you probably couldn't even get a word out."

Iruka was prepared for a scathing reply to _that_ when he thought better of it, and closed his mouth with a snap. Hadn't he been thinking of letting Kakashi handle the explanation to Naruto barely a few hours ago?

But still, would Naruto accept it? Oh, so many things, all dependant on how Naruto reacted and Naruto positively delighted in surprising you no matter how long you'd known him.

Yes, Naruto was officially the most unpredictable person you were ever likely to meet. And Naruto's nature was currently giving Iruka the beginnings of a rather vicious stomach ulcer.

He could do no more than give a groan as he buried his head in his hands, waiting for his son to come home.

* * *

"Iruka-sensei! Tadaima!"

Naruto called out as he bustled through the door to the little flat, pushing it shut just so he could slump with a tired sigh against the brittle wood. It'd been far too long a day, and all he wanted right now was to snitch one of those ramen cups Iruka had hidden in the kitchen, and then make a nice cosy nest for himself in his bed, where he could preferably curl up and not have to wake up for school tomorrow morning.

He'd been forced to stay late for the 'compulsory-Wednesday-afternoon-after-school- activity' and after having to deal with both Gaara and Sai in the same day, he felt completely worn out.

He frowned a little, when Iruka's greeting echoed from the living room a bit more strained than usual. Feeling something lodge thickly in his stomach, he pulled himself from his resting place to hesitantly walk to the doorway, not bothering to move his bag from beside the door.

As he entered, he rapidly took in Iruka's arched form in the armchair, and that Kakashi was seated nearby on the sofa, stretched out and looking as bored as ever. There were some white papers on the coffee table. All of which appeared bleached and tired under the yellow light provided by the dim light bulb.

"Iruka-sensei?" asked Naruto hesitantly, remembering suddenly how tense and out of it the teacher had been that morning; he'd barely even said goodbye to him when he left to head off to class. He'd brushed it off as Iruka just being preoccupied with something or other, but as he watched the strained lines in the man's face, he couldn't help but wonder what really was wrong with the man.

Iruka fixed him with the same warm brown eyes, but the smile that accompanied it was a little too taught. His hands were clasped tightly in his lap.

There was definitely something wrong here.

"Ah, Naruto! I'm glad you're back… I'm afraid that there's something we need to talk to you about."

The words were soft and slow, as if he was trying to soothe a wild animal. For Naruto, it simply made the anxiety tighten painfully in his gut as he resisted the urge to simply turn around and run very, very far away.

Instead, he merely nodded, and gingerly sat down on the sofa beside Kakashi, who he spared a momentary glance.

"So…what's this all about?" he asked questioningly, peering at Iruka intently.

Who, for his part, seemed to be at a loss. He stuttered once, twice, before snapping his mouth shut, and sent a pleading stare to Kakashi who merely sighed and leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees.

"What Iruka was _trying_ to say is that your results from the Temple arrived today."

Naruto heard him say this in such a carefree manner, he almost felt himself relax, but he refrained, swallowing hard against the stubborn lump that had formed somewhere between his larynx and his mouth.

"And-and what did it say?" asked Naruto, his voice breaking as he tried to keep himself calm. It was a vain struggle; considering he could feel the beginnings of panic grip his sides like vices.

He could feel the blood beating its way through his head and his neck. The pulse was almost dizzying with its resolute _thud_. His mouth was dry and his mind was curiously blank; it could already see the train wreck, and was working ahead itself to process the shock. He knew in the depths of his soul that he _didn't_ want to hear what Kakashi had to say, but he merely sat there stiffly to listen nonetheless.

Kakashi gave some sort of shrug, and gestured to the papers on the table, the one lying at the top of the pile specifically.

With a trembling hand, the blond reached out and grasped it, fervently ignoring the way the off-white paper trembled like a leaf in his hold.

This was it; this was the moment that would determine what would happen to him. This would decide if he would be thrown back into the frozen hell of loneliness once more, or whether he could continue to live his life the way he wanted to, never having to even think of the word _demon _again.

He could barely bring himself to look, but his body moved on its own, bringing the words into his eye line, making them irresistible to read.

As his gaze slid further down through the various comments penned in a lazy scrawl, his fingers tightened, crumpling the paper into light folds. Once he'd finished, he made sure to go through it again, as if magically the words would change. He paled with dismay when he found they refused to comply with such a simple wish. Panic dug in its claws, undergoing the dark metamorphosis into cold fear.

"What is this?" he asked hoarsely, "_What is this?!_ What the hell is any of this supposed to mean?!"

Naruto sent a feral blue gaze darting back and forth between the two men in the room. Iruka look pained, but still retained his damnable silence, while Kakashi appeared resolutely unfazed, eye half lidded in dullness. It was infuriating.

When it became clear to him that Iruka couldn't quite meet his eyes, Naruto turned in near desperation to the silver haired man sitting so calmly next to him. He felt uncharacteristic hysteria claw at his throat as he watched Kakashi close the one visible eye to sigh deeply.

Naruto was so tense, he briefly entertained the idea of lashing out at him- just so he could _do _something, _anything_ that could make it better! But before he could give into the compulsion, Kakashi snatched the now crumpled paper from his hand, proceeding to smooth it out, before waving it about lackadaisically.

"This," he said in a manner befitting the definition of 'flippant', "informs us what that quite lovely, pretty seal on your stomach does. Or rather, what it _also_ does. It's. …side effects, if you will."

Naruto stared at him with a flickering gaze, ignoring his heart that was thrumming away like a rabbits, making him feel faintly nauseas. Kakashi continued drolly.

"We've been suspecting," Naruto glanced fleetingly at the _still_ silent Iruka, "for some time now that things have been changing about you Naruto. For a reported full blooded human, you've been exhibiting some…less than human tendencies recently."

Naruto felt more than a little sick at that, and swallowed down the rising bile forcefully; he had to hear, he had to know.

"Of course, that may have just been a part of being a jinchuuriki and completely normal, but things have been getting complicated ever since you arrived in Tokyo, so we wanted to make sure that nothing was amiss."

Kakashi paused for a moment, fixing Naruto with an even stare that made him feel pinned, like a butterfly in a display case. He felt those skimming tingles prick his skin again, causing him to squirm.

"According to the Sannin, masters of their field, it appears your seal takes the role of converting the chakra, or power, of the Kyuubi no Youko and passing it onto you directly, mixing in with your bloodstream. I'm surprised you haven't noticed until now-the seal has been active ever since your birth."

Naruto rubbed sweaty hands on the black fabric of his school uniform, licking his chapped lips. It was as if his blood had been replaced with air, or perhaps nothing at all; he felt so faint.

"And that means…?"

The man gave a soft sigh; silver hair flopping over his angled headband as he finally uttered the sentence that would destroy the small world Naruto had built for himself in his short life.

"It means, Naruto, that it is turning you into a demon. Or more specifically, I would say a fox!"

The last was said in that deceitfully cheerful tone, and while Kakashi may smile under that mask of his, Naruto felt as if his insides had been replaced with stabbing, freezing ice. The claws began to rip and tear, and the fear choked his throat. Dread fed on his despair as he paled, his already more than pasty tan fading to a bleached white.

….No….

_No, no, no, no, no, no, no, __**no!**_

He didn't want this! It was bad enough to know that he held a dark creature within him, but to _become_ one?! Why, why did this have to happen to him? Why, just when he was having friends for the first time, where people didn't glare at him, call him names or leave him to wither, segregated from everybody else?!

He couldn't breathe. He couldn't think.

He didn't want to be what the villagers had always thought of him!

_He didn't want to be alone!_

Iruka finally took action, hurriedly moving to sit beside the shattered boy and take his hand as he realised the little blond was beginning to shake.

He took a moment to glare at his lover.

"Kakashi!" he admonished.

But said man was unrepentant, and barely bothered to shrug as he propped his feet on the much abused, and yellowing coffee table.

"He needs to stop treating it as if it's the end of the world. Really, it just makes things much more interesting. And much easier for him too, if he does actually have any sort of interest in Sasuke."

The name was said casually, but it clicked in Naruto's panicking mind with worrying clarity and focus. His hands tightened and the tremors halted. Sasuke? Wha-what did Kakashi mean by that? Was…was Sasuke different too? And know he thought on it, what was Gaara; he'd felt…different as well, but almost oddly similar to Sasuke. Though it had been an irritation rather than the almost soothing quality that Sasuke had.

He gripped his head as it began to throb; full of unanswered questions and lack of understanding, which sent his thoughts skittering all over the place.

Just…just what was going on?!

"I'm-I'm so confused," admitted Naruto softly, gratefully letting Iruka fuss over him; it felt good, to know that Iruka knew, but he didn't seem to care about any of what Kakashi had just revealed.

"Naruto," said Iruka at last, "I know the villagers back in Konoha would always tell such terrible stories, but youkai are very different. You'll…" Iruka's face wrinkled, as if in pain, "go through some changes, and it may be scary at first, but you'll have a life; one of your own. And I'll make sure nothing happens to you, alright?"

By the time his guardian was finished, Naruto had given up on the hot tears that ran down his face. His mind had blanked out into white fuzz, and he didn't know what to do apart from let them fall. He didn't particularly care, and let himself bury against Iruka, inhaling his scent, and idly wondering when it became so clear and familiar to him; so safe.

Warm hands gently stroked along his back comfortingly. It was weak, and Naruto was sure he was far too old for this by now, but it felt so nice, and his desire to be comforted and to have the knowledge that he wasn't completely alone was too unrelenting to resist.

"I should probably tell you already…" sighed Iruka, just managing to meet Naruto's curios and damp blue gaze, "that Kakashi himself is a youkai."

Biting his tongue as his eyes widened to make them appear like the sea; vast and wet, Naruto instead twisted his gaze to appraise the man who he suddenly noticed was almost as close to him on the heavily cushioned sofa as Iruka.

Kakashi, weird-mask man, was a d-demon?

…

No _way._

"No way…" muttered Naruto, still staring at him in incredulity, shocked out of his own twisted thoughts on despair and isolation.

Kakashi merely treated him to one of those strange smiles of his, where his eye practically completely closed.

"Fully fledged," he said with a slight incline of his head to signify a nod, "and I assure you its not all bad. And on the whole, we _don't _eat babies and rape the virgin community under the dark caress of the sweet night-like some people _like _to think."

"…"

Kakashi, in Naruto's opinion, had just reached an entire new and untold level of weird.

Even in his wrung out state, he managed to turn back to Iruka to ask in disbelief,

"You know this guy? _Seriously?"_

Iruka simply laughed and shook his head, muttering the word "Naruto" under his breath a few times, a little like a chant and hugged him a bit tighter.

There was silence after that, all three of them sitting bunched up on the far too small sofa in some sort of strange, peaceful montage. Naruto couldn't summon the energy to think about it anymore. Too deeply anyway.

If _Iruka-sensei,_ and Kakashi said youkai weren't so bad….then, maybe he wouldn't be forced into loneliness once more? And there wasn't just him either, all by himself. If Kakashi was a demon, then there had to be others too right? And didn't Kakashi also mention something about Sasuke? If youkai were people like that, maybe it didn't really matter so much, what he was?

This tentative step towards the unknown was tempered by his curiosity suddenly proposing every question under the sun. He was hesitant to open his mouth, for he had the tendency to just spew all his thoughts out at once, but as the silence dragged, as bizarrely comfortable as it may be, he decided to be brave and break the halt in conversation.

"So…" he said bashfully hugging onto a nearby cushion, "what _are _youkai like?"

To which Iruka gave a painful squeeze on the tan hand still in his grip, and Kakashi chuckled, taking the opportunity to ruffle blonde locks, almost affectionately.

"You want to know hmm? Well, all right. I'll try to put this as simply as I can…"

* * *

The next morning, Naruto trudged through the empty hallways of Shichiyou, trying to stifle an inevitable yawn. Even after Kakashi had left sometime before midnight last night, it hadn't been until the early hours, when morning light filtered through his window that he finally managed to doze off, strewn on top of the mussed covers of his bed. He just had so much running through his mind; it simply refused to shut down.

Then again, his entire world and his place in it _had_ all been upturned in a single night; how could he possibly sleep after all that? Even now, walking through the school, passing lockers and empty classrooms was strangely surreal, as if he simply hadn't woken up this morning at all and was still in a fuzzy dream world where he would wake any second.

He felt inordinately lost. He was emotionally wrung out, like a wet towel twisted too many times, and he couldn't seem to make a coherent decision on anything. After Kakashi's words and Iruka's assuring last night he couldn't even decide if youkai were good or bad anymore.

He had grudgingly come to terms with his new status, but from that point he had absolutely no idea how to go forwards. He felt as if something ought to happen, to show him where to start, but he couldn't quite grasp what it was supposed to be in the first place. He almost felt as if he was impatiently _waiting_ and in the mean time, he was left to stew in an awkward limbo in between. What, he couldn't say, but it was an undeniable feeling nonetheless, and in all it made him feel so wholly _lost_. Waiting for something, _someone, _to pick him up out of this mess.

Perhaps he'd snap out of his scattered state of mind when he got into class, a nice slap in the face by reality. Iruka had to be in early for a staff meeting today, thus why he was in a full half hour before registration even began. Only the truly dedicated students would be in at this time given the choice. The school at this time was almost ghostly in its disposition; most of the lights were still off, and various doors were still locked, the stairwells deserted. He fervently hoped as he climbed the steps that Room 218 was open. If it wasn't, he would be forced to sit down on the cold floor, and he wasn't entirely sure if he'd be able to get up again if he did; he was so tired.

Of course, emotions were far more exhausting than any physical exercise. Frankly, he was almost eager to get into lessons, where he could hopefully focus and forget about his newfound…change in species.

Naruto wrinkled his nose. No matter he was forced to accept it, that just sounded plain weird. Though his most pressing concern over the entire matter was his newfound fear of rejection. Wonderful.

Surely his friends would abandon him if they knew? Unless perhaps, if they could possibly be youkai themselves? And Kakashi had mentioned something about Sasuke…if he knew, then he felt as if he could then get some grip on the situation.

For no matter how much he may wish it at the moment, his condition wasn't going to be changing anytime soon.

The blonde breathed a sigh of relief when he found the door to his form room open, and he moved slowly inside. Not caring about his slouched back as he slung his bag onto the nearest front bench, resulting in a satisfying echo in the empty room as he flumped down next to it. The blinds on the tall windows were still half closed, and the room was awash with a grey light, soft shafts of sunlight only illuminating small squares on the dusty floorboards under the indented windowpanes. The board was still covered in some half rubbed off writings from the day before, and the gentle 'tick' of the clock that hung over the doorway echoed like a hypnosis through the soft silence, causing Naruto's lids to droop.

Perhaps coming in early wasn't so bad, it was oddly peaceful…maybe he could get some sleep in before registration…

He was just falling into a light doze, and he was subsequently fully unprepared to find himself _not alone_.

"Dobe."

Naruto was quite sure he was going to have a heart attack, as he jumped so startled, that he managed to trip over and bang right into the wooden ledge of the desk in front. He hissed, and bent over, clutching his throbbing hipbone with a grimace.

"Fuck!"

He glared with all the vehemence he could muster as he heard a soft snort come from the rows above.

"You shut up, teme," he scowled, before realising quite acutely just who he was in the room with. Alone.

Naruto descended into curses once more as he vainly tried to hide himself from view by curling up even more and busying himself with his bag. Sasuke could always put him on edge, and for some reason this morning just his _voice _was getting him flustered. He was so not ready for this!

Sasuke it appeared, did not take Naruto ignoring him well, as he gave the blond an irritated glare from his loftier position near the back of the classroom.

"Stop messing about, just come up and sit down."

The pain in his side long forgotten, Naruto hesitated, completely stuck where he stood before he made the mistake of glancing at the boy who sat lazily on one of the top benches.

Uchiha Sasuke was calmly seated near the back of the room, his dark bangs falling into his face as he glanced down the steps towards him. He gracefully rested his chin on the propped palm of his hand, the white skin a delightful contrast to the black of his fitted uniform. In the pale light, his dark eyes that surveyed him so steadily appeared to glint.

Feeling his resolve of ignoring the Uchiha melt like a snowball in August, Naruto gave a half sigh, half whimper as he bit his lip.

Roughly grabbing his bag and making a show of slumping down next to the other boy in reluctance, he hoped to hide the sudden blush that had sprung up at the near proximity, and which was intent to cause Naruto as much mortification as physically possible.

"Did you run here or something, you're all flushed."

Which was only superseded in its mission by Uchiha Sasuke himself Naruto decided, as he felt a pallid hand momentarily brush against his forehead.

The light touch tingled, and the irritating flutters in his stomach were making the blond feel almost lightheaded.

He quickly ducked away from the inquiring hand, scolding himself for missing the sensation it had caused. Sasuke seemed slightly annoyed with the retreat, and rapidly withdrew his hand.

"Tch."

Naruto didn't bother to reply and despite the furious restless itch beneath his skin, he tried his best to be nonchalant, resting his chin in one hand as he leant on the varnished desktop. He hadn't been so close to Sasuke in weeks! Not since that time in the bathroom, and he'd nearly…

No! Don't think of that!

Sasuke flicked a curios glance to the blonde beside him as he flushed bright red. It was sorta cute really…

Naruto mentally berated himself as he tried to get his face back to its normal skin tone. How did the Uchiha do this?! It was beyond embarrassing.

He bit his lip hard, as he briefly turned his gaze to the off-white ceiling, before breathing deeply through his nose.

The silence between them stretched, only filled by the continuous 'tick-tick' of the clock. Sasuke had fallen into a common pose of staring broodingly into the distance, and Naruto was unwittingly joining him as he puzzled over what to do.

Sneaking a sly glance to the dark haired boy, he was irresistibly reminded of what Kakashi had vaguely mentioned last night, as well as his own thoughts that very morning. Would Sasuke care about him being youkai? Somehow, Naruto had already concluded that outside Iruka, it was Sasuke's opinion that mattered to him the most; in fact it felt almost crucial to him. He had no idea where this sort of feeling had come from, or how it had developed so far in just a few short weeks, but he knew it was true nonetheless. One question though, picked out from Kakashi's indistinct words was even more important. Was Sasuke…just maybe, a youkai too?

He was burning in curiosity, but he had absolutely no idea how to breach the subject, he could hardly just blurt it out. Surely Sasuke would look at him like he was insane. Naruto…didn't particularly want Sasuke to think he'd escaped from some mental institution, so that option of being blunt was out. But still, trying to wheedle it out of conversation wasn't really what he excelled at either, and that was if he could talk properly to Sasuke anyway; the bastard had the most unhelpful ability to get him horrendously sidetracked.

Fuck it. He'd just have to wing it.

"Ne, ne, Sasuke…" he trailed off as dark eyes flickered in his direction, and Naruto suddenly realised he had no idea what to say next. Stupid Sasuke and his stupid confusing eyes.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow in question as Naruto let his sentence completely fizzle into nothingness.

Shit, shit, shit, shit, this wasn't working! Maybe he should just ask outright after all…

"…You're staring baka."

Naruto blinked, unsure when he'd exactly glassed over. He immediately started to sputter out a denial as he saw the Uchiha's _accusing _gaze, embarrassment colouring his features a violent red.

Crap, crap, crap!

Resisting the urge find a rock to go hide under, and preferably _never_ be seen again, Naruto vainly tried to mutter some sort of explanation that would have a chance to save the last of his dignity from this bastard-of-a-fiend who acted out so effortlessly.

Sasuke however, appeared to have developed a finesse for being horribly blunt and uncaring towards said dignity.

"You were," he began to smirk slightly, and Naruto felt an ominous shudder race down his spine. That smirk…was almost…_bad thoughts!_

The blonde couldn't help but stiffen like a board as Sasuke actually began to _lean in _over the bench top.

Why-why so close?!

"I wonder," the Uchiha's voice had seemingly lowered by a few octaves, and Naruto felt something horrendously like shivers wrack through his nerves, "what you could want, hmm?"

They were too close again. Just like the time in the bathroom, and that night when they….eh, when the _'incident'_ occurred. The tingles were back, along with a new urge to do…._ something_, anything!

But for the life of him, he had no idea what. Instead, he vainly tried to ignore the Uchiha's uncharacteristic invasion of his personal space as he absently licked his drying lips. He was unaware of the way Sasuke's dark eyes flitted down to observe the motion and then back up.

"I-I just wanted to ask you something," he said, cursing as it came out breathless. He hated sounding like an idiot. It was to his surprise that instead of mocking him, Sasuke simply leaned in even closer, dark eyes hooded.

"Oh?"

It was almost a purr.

"Yeah…demo…"

Wha-what was Sasuke doing?! It was making his heart start a rather brilliant impersonation of a hummingbird, while the butterflies in his stomach were having a field day.

"You can ask me anything, _Naruto."_

_Oh God._

His name…no one had ever said his name like that. So dark and sweet, like a caress of velvet. His breath hitched as the heat in his stomach abandoned it to spike elsewhere in a throb between his legs.

_Oh fuck._

His cheeks felt on fire as he tried to get his breathing going again. Sasuke was now so close; he could feel light breaths tickle his overheated skin. He struggled to keep his eyes open as he felt warm fingers squeeze his own.

No! He had to know! He couldn't bear it, he had to know before-!

"Sasuke, are you…-?"

He was cruelly interrupted as a gaggle of students burst through the door with a bang, and Naruto was forced to snap back on his seat, hitting the back painfully as he determined to put space between himself and his desk mate, though he couldn't help but feel cutting disappointment leeching him. He wasn't entirely sure about what though and as he tried to get both his blush and breathing under control, he vainly struggled with his convoluted thoughts.

He glanced at Sasuke wonderingly, and blinked in surprise when he saw the red tinted, _murderous_, glare fixed on the noisy clump of pupils. It was downright ferocious, and the way it hardened his eyes like that…

The blond frowned slightly as he watched the red tint slowly fade, washing away as the dark haired boy just grunted before setting in to stare apathetically towards the front, the moment completely gone.

The blonde vaguely noticed that this time the strange tingles that skittered across his skin had lingered and only now was the heightened sensitivity starting to fade reluctantly. His nose twitched a little; and he swore the air had become heavier since he arrived half an hour ago.

Casting one last glance towards Sasuke, his dark eyes, pale skin and the blue tinted silky hair, Naruto felt the bitter disappointment of before lessen to a more manageable level.

He could wait a little longer to know if Sasuke was like him. Did it really have to matter anyway?

For, no matter what the answer was, Sasuke would always be special.

* * *

**A/N:I'm not entirely sure about this chapter, but it needed to be done, so there. Next chapter things get a bit more interesting. It was a bit emotional, but its all character development, and did we like the sasunaru interaction? Poor Naru-chan, always blushing like that, lol.**

**Please review, the feedback is always valuable to me! Next chapter will have Gaara, kisses, and a fight! Things are getting tense, ja!**


	15. As the Rain Falls

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

**A/N: I just want to say thankyou very much for all your reviews, i value them all highly. Also, a lot happens in this chapter, and deals with a lot of emotions, and thoughts. It also contains a large amount of violence, which is quite graphic, so be warned! On a slightly lighter note, the Sasunaru action-y goodness is one step closer! Read, and enjoy!**

**Oh, and i'm not entirely sure on the grammer in this chapter, but i've tried my best this late at night.**

Warnings: Gaara, demons, graphic violence (seriously, it may gross you out), lots of blood and pain...It'll get better, promise! Swearing, and Yaoi.

* * *

**As the Rain Falls**

Naruto sighed a breath of relief as the bell rung from overhead.

Break time, _finally_.

He let his pencil drop on top of barely finished maths equations and gratefully swept the whole lot into his waiting bag.

The morning had dragged by painfully slow, and still tired from his lack of sleep last night, Japanese had nearly sent him right off to dreamland, while maths had been mind numbing, the teacher droning like a broken record.

Only Kiba shared this class with him, so he'd also been deprived of any entertainment to rouse him from drooling all over his textbooks, as Kiba had zoned out within seconds of entering the classroom.

Break had never come so slowly, or been so welcome.

With a blissful roll of his shoulders as he cracked his back, he gratefully left to join the throng of students making their way through the maze of corridors and stairways to head to lockers or classrooms.

Jostling his way past, Naruto weaved his way through the crowds, occasionally sidestepping inconsiderate loiterers, completely unaware of the intense gaze following his every move and feature.

Once he reached the long row of silver-metal lockers, Naruto thankfully let his bag fall to the ground, deftly moving a hand to twist the door open. He was halted in surprise as a voice suddenly spoke from behind him.

"Uzumaki."

Feeling slightly irritated once he recognised it, and annoyed that he'd managed to sneak up on him like this, Naruto turned around to see the impassive figure of Gaara.

Frowning as he recalled their interaction only the day before, he opened his mouth, intent to let the other boy have a piece of his mind, which he'd been unable to vent yesterday. Before he could start his diatribe of fury, however, he was forcibly cut off, as Gaara simply _appeared_ not two inches from his face and-

"Wha-!"

Used the opportunity to stick his tongue into the poor blonde's mouth.

Naruto blinked in shock for a moment, as he felt himself pressed tightly against the lockers, Gaara having a hold on his arms like steel bands.

It took another few seconds to register the foreign invasion in his mouth, which felt hot, yet unpleasantly wet and made him itch all over. And not in a good way; he felt like tearing off his skin.

It didn't take long for Naruto to start to struggle against the enforced hold, but Gaara was stronger than he looked and merely gripped onto him tighter, seemingly unfazed by the blonde's lack of response as he began to bite painfully on Naruto's bottom lip.

Naruto began to panic, not liking the experience in the slightest. Last time he checked, boys weren't supposed to just randomly kiss someone in the hallways, especially when they didn't like each other. He most certainly did not want to kiss Gaara! And yet, it was still happening!

Growling slightly, Naruto tried to break free once again, unaware that his eyes were glinting red, but the red head still held firm, and merely gave a dark rumbling growl of his own. Getting desperate, Naruto made a sudden movement, flailing like a fish and banged his head against the lockers behind his head with a nasty 'bang!'

It echoed in the completely silent, but unquestionably packed corridor.

With a final shove, ignoring the pain lancing through his head, Naruto managed to detach himself from Gaara, resisting the instant need to spit. He still had Gaara's taste in his mouth.

He struggled to get Gaara to quickly relinquish his hold but he refused, merely staring at him in a slightly annoyed fashion.

"Uzumaki."

It sounded like a reprimand of some kind, and as Naruto treated him to his most ugly glare, the red head seemed almost confused, as if he didn't know why Naruto was being so incompliant.

Naruto however, was pissed.

"_**Gaara!**_ What the _fuck_ do you think you're _doing_?! I swear, if you _**ever**_ even _**think**_ of doing that again, I'll fucking rip your balls off! And let the fuck _go _of me!"

His yell rang clear through the air, but Gaara wasn't listening to him; he wasn't even looking at him. He had his head twisted to the right, staring intently.

Feeling something gnawing unpleasantly on his insides as he suddenly felt a deadly intent come from down the hallway, Naruto felt the fine hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Hesitantly, and incredibly slowly, Naruto turned to face whatever was standing at the end of the corridor.

_Sasuke._

And he did not look happy in the slightest. Had he seen? Considering the look on his face, he had. Naruto suddenly felt himself go weak in Gaara's grip.

He had the sudden desire to break free from Gaara, run to him and instantly spew out how he didn't want it, didn't like it and that Gaara forced it on him, to _make_ Sasuke believe him. But his body didn't seem to want to obey him and just stood there like a useless sack of stone. That look, his face…

It was so cold, so closed off. He didn't want Sasuke to look like that!

He must be mad at him, _really_ mad.

Naruto felt as if the bottom of his stomach had dropped out, as well as alarmingly dizzy.

He didn't want him to leave him!

…

Leave him? He'd never _had _him.

But…but…

That wasn't to say that he didn't want it.

With a moment of terrifying clarity, Naruto finally understood. Just when things might be completely ruined.

Sasuke was always the one in his thoughts most, the one who's opinion mattered to him the most. When he felt restless around the other, it was because…

Sasuke still hadn't moved or said anything, though Gaara was still staring, as if in challenge. He still hadn't let Naruto go.

He felt his heart quiver uncomfortably and his eyes were oddly dry.

Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck, everything was messed up!

He wasn't entirely sure what he wanted with Sasuke, but it was obviously more than he'd ever had with anyone before, and he certainly didn't want it to end like this; before it could even have a chance to start. But things like this, they could be so delicate, especially in their early stages.

When Gaara had kissed him, he didn't really mind that it was a boy doing it; it'd never really occurred to him in the first place that it was wrong. He'd grown up with his own morals and thoughts on right and wrong. But it had still felt suffocating, and left a bitter taste in his mouth.

He had no interest in Gaara.

But, maybe if Sasuke…

He'd already felt his lips on his, even if it were purely accidental, and what about just this morning before registration?

He didn't want Gaara to kiss him, but he didn't think he'd mind if Sasuke did it. In fact, he half-wanted him to. Otherwise, why would his chest be hurting so much right now?

For now, that may never, _ever_, happen.

He felt like he'd been force fed acid, it burned so bad.

A frightened glance showed that everyone was still frozen in the strange tableau they made, but it appeared Sasuke was actually _shaking _where he stood.

His face was tilted down to face the floor, so his hair now covered his eyes. His fists were clenched so hard; blood splattering on the plastic flooring and Naruto could just make out the way the Uchiha's muscle in his jaw was twitching in restraint.

Naruto watched in veiled apprehension as Sasuke finally, slowly raised his head. Staring out between black bangs were two pairs of ferocious red eyes, tomoe swirling dangerously. Gaara met the stare with his own yellowed gaze as his fingernails gripped into Naruto's forearms like claws.

A low growl of anger drifted through the hallway, and Naruto winced instinctively at it, though others around them barely seemed to hear it.

"Sabaku," snarled Sasuke, his voice twisted darkly in brewing fury.

"Uchiha."

Sasuke narrowed his bleeding red eyes, his entire stance tensed and radiating pure malicious intent. Gaara had the decency to seem at least a little wary as he smirked back.

"Outside. Now."

It was spat out, and Gaara finally released Naruto from his steel grip, who from the sudden lack of support banged against the lockers, dazed.

He only managed to snap himself back to reality as he saw both of their retreating backs. They were going…to fight? Is that what they meant?

Panicked and confused, Naruto hurried to trail behind them, leaving an entire hallway of wide eyes, stunned students in their wake.

* * *

Sasuke, as he left from third period Biology, could not be described in the best of moods. Not that he could normally be considered amiable at any time of the day, but so far, he was in a worse mood than usual.

Mostly due to Naruto.

That baka.

He had to restrain a sigh of pure frustration at the thought of him.

Kakashi had come home late the night before, and when interrogated, had only mentioned that 'Naruto got his results today and I had to do the comfort thing'. He had been far from pleased about that.

It was one of those things that highlighted how little time that he and Naruto got to spend together. Not that that should matter. But, irritatingly, it _did._

He'd noticed Gaara eyeing Naruto the moment he arrived, and quickly done all he could to keep the two firmly apart. Sasuke, by this time, had already conceded defeat; he had far more than a measly crush on the blonde dobe. He'd tried denial for a while, but that hadn't really worked out for him, especially with Kakashi purposefully pushing his buttons whenever he got the chance.

He'd then proceeded to try anger, which hadn't worked either. Mostly due to the fact that Naruto could never keep him angry for long; he always had to do something damnably cute and adorable.

He'd then sunk even lower, and tried to ignore it altogether…which…hadn't worked. It soon became clear that Uzumaki Naruto was impossible to ignore. Particularly when he stubbornly refused to get out of his head, his thoughts, and his dreams.

Yes, _dreams_.

In all, it simply led to a far firmer conclusion; he was obsessed with the blond. Which, when it came to him, invariably meant that he would not stop until Naruto was his.

And it wasn't just for physical attraction either; that would be far less embarrassing for him to deal with.

No, he'd somehow become fond of the idiot; the smiles, the challenge, the _brightness _and he enjoyed his company far more than anyone else, shown by how he actually didn't try to get away from the him as soon as possible, like he tried with most people.

In fact, he wouldn't mind if Naruto _never_ went away.

Hell, you might even say he was in l-…

At any rate, Sasuke after this had come to the conclusion that Naruto would be _his_. It was his nature to be possessive as well, and he would not stand to see the little blonde with anyone else. Thus keep Gaara as far away as possible, the little fuck- he knew that he had already put a claim on Naruto.

He'd also been trying to entice Naruto towards himself, and if that morning had been any indication, he thought with a smirk, then it seemed _his _dobe liked him too.

The blushes had been so cute, and made his hitherto-unknown-libido think dark thoughts. It was probably all Kakashi's fault, that damn pervert.

However, before he could do anything more than a little tease, they'd been _interrupted _and before he could do anything Naruto had skittered away like a frightened cat.

So close…

He just hoped in the meantime Gaara didn't try anything stupid.

The fucker.

And so, as Sasuke walked through the halls to his locker, he was already in a troubled state of mind.

It was as he neared the locker corridor however that he was pulled from his thoughts, mostly by the sudden silence. Nowhere during break time in this school was it _ever_ quiet.

Picking up his pace, and frowning in annoyance, his nose wrinkled as he picked up an unmistakable scent.

_Gaara._

"Wha-!"

_**Naruto.**_

Practically in a full out run, he skidded round the corner just in time to see _that shit_ swoop in to attach himself to the lips of _his_ blond.

He froze as his mind suddenly plunged in the influx of aggressive urges that flooded his thoughts.

He felt his normal consciousness close down as he watched Gaara plunder his dobe's mouth before he got the chance to, and as the smaller boy struggled against it.

"_**Gaara!**_ What the _fuck_ do you think you're _doing_?! I swear, if you _**ever**_ even _**think**_ of doing that again, I'll fucking rip your balls off! And let the fuck _go _of me!"

They finally broke apart, Naruto looking thoroughly ravaged.

He felt things slowly filter through. The need to _rip, _to _tear, _to _crush._ To feel blood and flesh in between his jaws and under his claws. The primal need to hurt, maim- to kill.

Gaara was challenging him with that stare of his.

_I can take what I want._

He clenched his fists, and glanced at Naruto. The blond was sagging against the lockers and his beautiful blue eyes were unfocused and suspiciously wet as something rolled down his cheek; he didn't even seem to notice it.

Sasuke felt sharpening teeth grind against one another. Not only had this little piece of shit touched what was _his, _he'd also hurt him! A thick dark writhing mass of rage lashed about him, covering him like a black shroud. How fucking _dare_ he?! He felt his very anger rumble in the back of his throat. It was indiscriminate and for one moment he would like no better than to lunge carelessly forward, pounce and rip that stupid fucker into bits- he'd _revel_ in it. But, he managed to hold it back, jaw clenching against his need.

"Sabaku."

Gaara was also beginning to react; he could taste the heady scent of chakra in the air.

"Uchiha."

He had to be calm, and focus his hatred. He could wait a few minutes.

"Outside. Now."

Yes, a little patience would go a long way, and no need to frighten Naruto any further.

As he moved off out the school, feeling Gaara breathing down the back of his neck, he only managed to keep from snapping by holding onto one sweet thought.

Sabaku no Gaara was going to _die._

* * *

It was raining. Hard. It fell in sheets that pummelled through clothes to hit skin like frozen bullets. The water also brought an unseasonable cold, causing Naruto to gasp as he numbly pushed on the heavy metal bar to open the fire escape. Goose bumps rose on his exposed forearms, but the blond paid it no heed as he stumbled out, still following the backs of both Gaara and Sasuke, who seemed to have stopped, unheeding to the rain plastering their hair to their faces.

As Naruto quickly became as drenched as the both of them, he wrapped his arms about himself, and glanced around. The fire escape had led to some sort of wide alley, the deep red brick forming a wall on one side, and several metres away was the chain link fence that bordered the neighbouring sport centre.

He placed his back against the brick wall, a little ways away from the two boys who were, for the moment, standing perfectly still, not three feet from each other. The only sound was the constant pounding of the rain, and Naruto could only be dimly thankful that it wasn't windy; he'd be sure to freeze to death otherwise.

He was so confused. It was clear that Sasuke and Gaara were here to fight, but why? Why would Sasuke get so plain _angry_ as to do this?

For Naruto knew that this wasn't just some sort of scuffle, both combatants looked murderous. The tension was so intense; the blond fancied that he could taste it in the very air, rain or no. It made him uneasy, and he shifted against the wall. Even though he'd followed them, he was determined to not get involved. Something about it just screamed that he shouldn't. And by now, he had learnt to trust his instincts.

So despite floundering, and the fact he was beginning to feel sick from the nervous tension, Naruto did not move from his position, and simply watched.

From above the roar of the rain, he thought he heard a growl, one that reverberated right through his chest cavity. Squinting through the dim grey light the downpour caused, Naruto could make out the stark red of Sasuke's eyes, and the dark outline of Gaara's. However, it didn't seem it that it was just their eyes that were different. Though his vision was misty, he could clearly make out growing claws, glistening as they curled into serrated points, and sharp teeth doing the same.

Naruto couldn't look away, he found that he dearly wanted to, a sudden fear sending jitters to his heart, but he was rooted to the spot. Butterflies began to flitter somewhere near the top of his throat, and he almost desperately wished for one of them just to _move. _Anything, to break the near paralysing scent that filled the air.

And then, right then, they moved.

Naruto immediately wished they hadn't.

A thudding 'crack!' filled the air before he could even blink, followed by a feral snarl. Sasuke had rammed forward, and with an inhuman strength driven Gaara right back into the wall, sending pieces of brick flying. From where he stood, several feet down, Naruto could feel the shudder reverberate from the brick and down his spine.

_Holy fucking shit._

Gaara, though he undoubtedly had broken more than just a couple of ribs, didn't pause for an instant, and ruthlessly swiped low, hoping perhaps, to slash Sasuke right across his stomach. However, Sasuke seemed to expect it, or at least could move fast enough to dodge. Though maybe not, as dark red blossomed in a perfect line on the Uchiha's previously white –now see-through- school shirt.

Naruto winced at the sight, and clenched his fists tightly, the knuckles going white.

Sasuke appeared to take it in his stride, and feigned to be able to move to the side of the other boy, as he peeled himself off the wall. With a snarl, Gaara bared a pointed set of fangs, but Sasuke ignored it, and simply dove in, ripping a hand down the red heads back, using it as a distraction as he attempted to seemingly gut him from the side. Gaara manoeuvred out the way, however, and took the opportunity to twist the Uchiha's arm violently and slam him into the tarmac of the ground. It buckled under the force.

Naruto had to close his eyes after that, as Sasuke spat out a mouthful of blood, the same colour as his spitting eyes. Even though he could no longer see, Naruto could still picture it in his mind's eye, the rain not being able to drown out the sickening sounds of cracks, and crunches, along with the wet smack of flesh on flesh, and of blood splattering.

With every moment that passed, the blond felt an increasing spark of fear. This…this was…

They were…they were actually trying to _kill _each other.

And they were being horrifying effective at doing so.

Some may think that this fight was nothing more than a rowdy brawl, with no finesse or style present at all, mere animals. Yet both creatures before him were far more deadly than any soldier, or martial artist could ever be. They had brute strength, but also a deadly elegance and grace as they came at each other, only ever going for vital spots. It was almost beautiful, and Naruto was suddenly irresistibly reminded of Sai's painting.

'…_the incarnation of all the dark wrongs of the world, not to be redeemed…'_

Naruto shuddered, but couldn't resist his eyes slipping open of their own accord. Just in time to see Gaara trying to simultaneously relocate his shoulder, while fending off a relentless Uchiha. Blood was running due to the rain, all the way down their clothes, which were torn in various places. The water washed out the redness, sending it trickling to mingle with that already laying on the dark grey tarmac.

Naruto could barely bring himself to look over to see Sasuke's wounds. He didn't like Gaara much, especially after his little stunt today with that kiss, but considering Sasuke was so mad, then surely things would…turn out all right?

That's if, by some miracle Sasuke doesn't get murdered, or in turn kills Gaara. Wouldn't he go to prison for that? Or wouldn't it matter?

The thought was promptly lost as suddenly, Sasuke raised a clawed hand and smashed it right across Gaara's jaw, sending the red head stumbling back with force, spitting out teeth and blood, while it became obvious that Sasuke had completely shattered the other boy's jawbone.

The injury caused both to pause, if momentarily. Sasuke was half hunched, and panting, and Gaara was much the same as he leaned back against the brick wall, regarding each other warily. Though clear it was far from over, both were slowly beginning to tire.

Naruto was filled with the urge from the slight security provided by the lull to run right up to Sasuke, to get him away, before he could be hurt anymore, but he restrained it, labelling it as childish. But at the same time…

Naruto tilted darkened blue eyes skywards as he bit through his lip, only to be rewarded by a face full on speeding raindrops. Hissing at the sting in his eyes, he turned them downward. Fucking hell, he didn't want to simply just stand there like some lifeless doll!

Yet whenever he wanted to move closer to them, to stop them, separate them, join them, _anything!_ He felt he legs lock him in place, and a firm voice from the dark recesses of his mind whispered not to interfere. It was also this same line of thought, that admired the two in their fighting skills, and even…felt somewhat impressed with how well Sasuke seemed to be doing.

It made Naruto feel sick. Yet he stayed to observe nonetheless. This was important, very important. He didn't know why, only that it was.

His thoughts were so jumbled; he could barely make sense of anything, not to mention that his brain seemed to be working slower than a mile an hour.

But it was as the two began to gear up for another round, when through the rain sheets, Naruto spied claws.

That belonged to Sasuke.

He'd been looking at them for ten minutes already, but…

They had blood on them. Gaara's blood. A boy from his class.

They weren't just any claws either. Ivory white, they curled to a sharp point, little serrations working their way on the inside curve. To rip and tear, and to spill blood more efficiently.

To kill.

He'd never seen such things on any bird, mammal or lizard.

Bile began to rise in his throat, and a frantic panic set in his heart and mind.

_Oh god._

Naruto felt his breath escape him in little gasps, unmindful to the cold that had gripped him. He stared blankly, watching as with terrible power, Gaara managed to ram Sasuke up against the chain link fence, the jingle of the metal just raising enough for him to hear.

Dull blue eyes registered the spray of dark red, almost maroon blood that hit the floor with a smack, mixing with the dirt, the water and the little bits of loosened gravel.

White skin, fresh blood, dark hair wet and sopping, and sharp ivory daggers glinting through the misty haze of the rain.

Stifling a sob, Naruto finally found the strength in his limbs, enough to push himself off the brick wall, and to stumble blindly. Away, away from the fight.

Hot tears that had welled in his eyes began to cascade like rivers, unseen due to the rain washing down his face.

With another gasp for air as he felt his throat constrict and choke him he ran, faltering towards the end of the alley, towards the main road.

As he burst out onto the pavement, he couldn't help but dash down the streets, unseeing and unheeding to where he was going, the loud sounds of bodies clashing against one another still ringing in his ears.

His mind was blank as his feet pounded on wet concrete, and after several minutes he was completely sure that he was undeniably lost. He came to a halt, falling to slump against a damp wooden fence, vainly trying to ease his choking breaths, and wipe the large amount of water off his face.

He remained there only a minute or so, not a single thought running through his head, until the rain began to ease a little, to a more manageable shower. He was startled into thought as a voice rang suddenly from behind him.

"Oh, hello Naruto-kun."

Flicking a morose gaze upward, blue eyes were faced with black ones.

With a sting of pain, Naruto bit his lip to stem the tears from flowing again.

_Sasuke was a youkai._

**A/N: Told you a lot happens this chapter. And yes, that person is Sai. Wonder what he's gonna do? And what'll happen with Sasuke and Gaara? Hmm, next chapter shall have even more drama than this one! But after, explanations shall come soon! I hope the fight scene was ok, and if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask, i'll gladly explain things.**

**Well, hope you enjoyed, don't forget to review, and i'll see you next time, ja!**

* * *


	16. Beginnings in a Rainstorm

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

**A/N: Sorry for the wait, this chapter's been having a few problems, but they've been fixed! So its all right. This chapter we get to see the outcome of the fight, and Naruto makes a big decision. Things are going to get stormy from here on out! Which is exciting stuff for me, and for you lot too! I loved all your reviews for last chapter, sorry if i couldnt reply to them all, and please, read, enjoy and review if you have something to say!**

Warnings:Yaoi, Sai, some violence, swearing. Oh, and a few tears.

* * *

**Beginnings in a Rainstorm**

"Are you alright Naruto-kun?"

Naruto stared blankly at the curved smile that hung above him, his eyes a dull grey, a pathetic imitation of their usual bright sky blue.

He swallowed heavily, his throat oddly dry and wet his lips, before summoning the energy to speak.

"Sai…?" his voice was cracked, and husky from a distinct tightness that had lodged itself somewhere in his oesophagus.

He dimly blinked the raindrops from his eyes as Sai's smile widened just a little bit more.

"Ah, I'm glad I came across you Naruto-kun. I've wanted to speak with you for quite a while."

Sai's words were calm and unassuming, a dire contrast to what Naruto had just been witnessing for the past half an hour. Against his will, he felt the tension holding his shoulders drain out of him, causing him to slump against the wet wooden slats of the fencing behind him.

He struggled for a moment or two before answering, his mind still a whirl with confusion and bleary thoughts. The rain kept on falling, making rippling circles in the forming puddles on the pavement.

"Wha-what about?"

Sai surveyed him intently for a moment, his dark eyes, like a deep abyss, looked him up and down, noting the scratches and torn clothing on his arm, his pale face and red rimmed eyes.

The other boy sighed heavily.

"I had hoped it wouldn't have to come to this Naruto-kun, but I guess some things are just inevitable, ne?"

Naruto blinked once more, his fuzzy vision zeroing onto the taller figure.

"Naruto-kun," started Sai, in a much more serious manner, his smile fading, "from the state you're in right now, I'm guessing you've seen them? What they're like?"

It took a moment for Sai's words to filter through, his mind still catching up from five minutes ago, images of Gaara and Sasuke fighting flashing in his mind's eye. He inwardly flinched away from the sight.

"…Them?" he uttered, tongue scraping against the broken skin of his lips.

Sai nodded, his lips twitching upwards.

"Yes, the demons. The _real _ones. You've seen them, haven't you Naruto-kun?"

Naruto stared at him blankly. Sai knew? About demons, youkai? Wha-what was he saying?

The other boy stared at the boy for a minute, as he didn't answer, before bending down to crouch next to him, his soft voice lowering to a gentle rhythm.

"I can tell by the look in your eyes…" he murmured, seemingly to himself.

Feeling more lost than ever, Naruto could do nothing but sit there lethargically, not even able to will his muscles to move, to let him stand from the cold wet ground.

The rain hadn't halted still, and continued to patter around them, the occasional wet spray from a passing car the only thing to interrupt the silence. They both ignored the shrieking group of girls that ran past, holding onto a single tattered umbrella.

Sai continued on.

"You've seen the true nature of demons. Monstrous aren't they? They delight in causing pain and suffering, even to each other. Nothing but animals really."

The words hit a spot. The blond vaguely registered that this conflicted with what Iruka had said, and even Kakashi, but at that moment, he had no idea what to think or feel, and the image of blood splattering the ground as Gaara quite literally tore up Sasuke was haunting his mind. Brows furrowed as he stared at the ground silently, willing to understand. He felt all the doubts that he'd settled in the back of his mind start creeping forward with every word Sai said to him.

Sai pressed on.

"Demons are nothing but mindless animals driven by instinct, making them nothing but graceless, brutish monsters, Naruto-_kun_."

The words penetrated his skull like a drill, passing through all his weak spots, playing on all his fears. Sai…what he was saying, it was just like what the villagers back in Konoha would say. Iruka had claimed that their words weren't true but…Iruka wasn't above lying to him, was he? If it was to try to keep him happy… The blonde closed his eyes against a new pain that tore through him.

"…Just like me, then?" Naruto whispered, opening his eyes slowly, to only see the slick-with-water tarmac of the road.

Sai looked at him intently, before speaking enticingly.

"No Naruto-kun, you don't have to be like _them _at all_, _like Gaara or Sasuke; they can't help what they are anymore, stuck as violent, wild animals, but you don't have to be like that."

Naruto tilted his head, damp blonde hair getting tangled in splinters from the fence. His blue eyes sparked. He felt something warm in his chest for the first time in what felt like forever.

"I…don't?" his voice had the faintest glimmer of hope, but it was enough for Sai to smile indulgently.

"Oh yes, Naruto-kun. You see they were born that way, it's in their nature, but you can still retain your humanity. You don't have to be a monster too."

In Naruto's distressed mind, Sai's words were as sweet as honey, and echoed a startling amount of truth, hitting him where his greatest fears and doubts lay. Had he not been wondering what was to happen to him only that very morning? He didn't want to be a monster, not like-…not like the villagers always claimed him to be. He wasn't…he wasn't! His distress pricked at his eyes.

"I can help you, you know. It doesn't have to be that way. Demons care for nothing and no one; they're far too dangerous," he paused, as if wondering to continue. He did, "I've noticed them taking interest in you Naruto-kun, and I want to help you. I _care_ about you very much."

The smile was there in full force, and the voice so calm and gentle. Naruto looked down from Sai's compassionate gaze to stare at the loose stones on the pavement, as he began to shake slightly.

Sai was offering to make…to make it all go away, wasn't he? A way out of it. For his life to go back to normal, or as normal as it'd ever been. He wouldn't have to live with that fear everyday, that someone would discover what he was, and everyone would hate him and leave him alone…so alone. What was life, if he was alone throughout?

"Naruto-kun, come with me, and we can remove you from harm. They'll hurt you- kill you, otherwise. You'll never have to worry about Gaara or Sasuke again; they won't be able to hurt you with their vicious animal ways."

Sai smiled, perhaps the most genuine that Naruto had ever seen, and stood up, only to stoop down to hold out a hand to him. Naruto stared at it nonsensically, as the rain continued its non-stop tapping in the background, the world washed grey in that single moment, against the storming clouds above.

Naruto was finding it hard to focus. So much had happened to him, in such a short time, and then it just simply _stops_ at this moment, Sai offering him a way out. Wasn't that what he wanted? What he should want. He didn't want to be a monster after all. Who would?

Mind sluggish, Naruto slowly lifted a tan hand, though it wavered against his chest a moment.

Sasuke…

Sai had mentioned him twice, hadn't he?

_Sasuke…._

Images assaulted him rapidly as he stared unseeingly at the hand Sai offered out to him, seeing those swirling blood-red eyes, him growling in the hallway barely an hour ago…how close he'd been that very morning, making him feel hot and flustered in a way he'd never thought possible. The man who…the _youkai_, who meant so much to him.

Naruto gently moistened his lips, blue eyes clearing as some clarity returned and he strengthened his resolve.

He noticed that Sai was leaning forward, bringing his hand closer, and Naruto let his hand move towards the others.

Sai's eyes, which had been full of indulgent content, suddenly widened in shock as Naruto stared right past him to the road behind, having forcefully pushed his hand away with a slap.

Sai…was offering to take him away from Sasuke.

And despite….

Naruto grit his teeth, ignoring Sai as he finally shoved himself to stand, using the fence as a prop as he fixed Sai with a glare, even through the pouring rain.

Even if he was a monster for it, even if Sasuke was a monster…

He didn't care.

…

He didn't care!

With a vigorous shake of the head, unshed tears from Sai's words dislodged to flow down his cheeks and mingle with the rainwater, he shoved Sai against the fence, and out of his way, unheeding to the fact that the wood of the slats bent and broke at the contact, littering the ground with yellow-wood splinters.

With a half strangled sob that came out as more of a cough, Naruto mentally slapped himself.

Here he was, crying like some small child, running off to who knows where, when Sasuke was still fighting!

How could he have been so _stupid!_

What the hell was he going to do if Sasuke lost? Both boys were being ruthless, and he'd just run off like a fucking pansy!

Fuck, what would he do if Sasuke was really hurt, huh?!

Stumbling away from a heavily winded Sai, and still beating himself up inside, Naruto took off in what he hoped was the direction he came from. In his haste to get away, he hadn't paid any attention whatsoever to where he was going. He ran blindly down the street, racing through corners in what he hoped was the right direction.

Clutching a stitch in his side, as he briefly leaned against a set of traffic lights, he glanced about himself frantically, blue eyes darting from one place to the next.

God, it all looked the same! Road signs, people hurrying along, and bright adverts glaring at him insolently against the washed out sky.

Gasping for breath, he swallowed heavily. He just had to calm a bit, that's all. Surely then he'd be able to recognise some of the spots he'd sped past earlier.

He had to- had to find Sasuke.

It was as he was bent double against the traffic lights that, even through the rain, a scent tickled his senses. It was light, but only due to distance, a heavily musky scent that carried the distinctive smell of mountains and grass underneath it. It was hard to pick out, and Naruto had never smelled anything quite like it; especially the underlying taste of _wildness_ that almost made him want to sneeze.

Inhaling deeply, he darted his head up, and sped after it, down the main road and round a corner. He knew it'd lead him back to the fight of Gaara and Sasuke, and indeed as he got closer, and the scent became thicker, and so did the recognisable, coppery tang of spilt blood.

Getting more frantic by the second, he distinctly remembered the worryingly large amounts of blood that was hitting the ground; he pushed his legs even faster, breath catching painfully in his chest as he pushed himself past his limit, skirting around pedestrians that were still out and about despite the rainstorm. He had to see, he had to know, how Sasuke was doing; had to make sure that he'd be all right.

It was all his fault they were fighting in the first place, wasn't it?

Gaara had kissed him, Sasuke got angry enough to rock the school to its foundations in response, and then they both proceeded to attempt to kill the other.

He suddenly felt incredibly idiotic, as well as childish for having run off, when it was clear he should have stayed, helped, _anything! _

And if he had to have run off like that, couldn't he have done something better than to run into Sai of all people? And let him talk to him like that.

Fighting back his sudden suffocating sense of shame, Naruto finally saw with great relief the brick wall and chain link fence. He gave a breathless sigh of relief for having made his way back, even better without having got lost.

As he neared, he couldn't make out the sounds of any fighting, and above the noise of the slowing rain, everything was still.

No…don't say he was too late…Sasuke…Sasuke _had_ to be fine.

His heart nestled itself in his throat, making him want to gag as he tried to quell the squirms of his stomach. He let his pace fall to a walk, though, with legs strangely weak, it was more a faltering lurch as he turned the corner into the make shift alley between brick wall and chain link.

The passage was darker than he remembered it being, though that could be from the distinct lack of movement. Stepping hesitantly forward, feet crunching against the loosened gravel, he peered through the misty sheet of drizzling water to make out any shapes. Had they moved somewhere else? Or had they been interrupted?

Dimly, the picture began to come into focus before his eyes.

Gaara was panting, clutching a red angry gash in his side, as he hauled himself slowly away, leaning heavily against the brick wall for support. He left a trail of red droplets in his wake.

As Naruto stepped forward, the red head seemed to take notice of him, and a set of poisonous green eyes locked onto him with a gleam, all the way from the other end of the alley.

Naruto met the gaze evenly as Gaara paused in his shuffling. For a moment the blond almost thought the boy was going to move towards him, but an echoing growl from nearby, and that made him start had the red head lower his head in reflex, before continuing to limp out of sight.

Naruto didn't bother to watch him go; he had eyes only for the figure much closer to him, barely a few feet away, who sat slumped against the chain link fence. Sasuke looked not much better than Gaara; the slash on his stomach, though clotting, had obviously leaked much blood, his shirt nearly encrusted with it. Tears and scratches were littered all over, and his frame appeared bent uncomfortably, as if he had broken more than one rib. He probably had. It was hard to make out any more injuries, as the blood had dried his clothing in a thick, dark mess, which stuck to him. For one horrifying moment, Naruto thought he might be dead, but then Sasuke peered up at him with sharp dark eyes through the wet locks of his hair.

_Thank fuck for that. _

With a sigh, almost a chuckle of relief, Naruto ran the last few yards to the Uchiha, and collapsed on his knees next to him, unmindful to the grit that ripped the skin of his palms in the process.

Sasuke didn't say a word, maybe he couldn't; his breathing didn't sound too well, crackling like that, almost as though fluid had bubbled up in his lungs.

He simply let his head fall with a soft 'clink' against the chains and surveyed Naruto calmly, as he twitched.

"You…you…" Naruto spluttered. Looking at all the cuts that littered the Uchiha's body, and the amount of blood that was soaking through his clothes, along with the rain, he suddenly didn't know whether to cry from relief, or shout in pure indignation. Why did Sasuke _have_ to fight and get himself hurt like this in the first place?! He felt horribly torn, and now that the horrific show of violence was over, the less important it seemed, as if it had just been a prideful ruse of Sasuke's. The kiss Gaara gave him felt a lifetime ago. Instead, he could now quite keenly feel pure frustration at the other boy for doing this to himself.

Naruto, with a great effort of will, fought down the urge to whack the boy round the head, though the other's infuriatingly…. _smug smirk_ was making it rather difficult. Idiotic, stupid little…

"I just…you just…argh!"

Gritting his teeth in frustration as all his feelings blurred in a mad, chaotic rush, he fisted his hands in his hair, letting his head fall to rest against Sasuke's shoulder, echoing another 'clink' from the chains as he pressed Sasuke further back against the fence.

"So stupid…" he muttered under his breath, and he felt affronted as the body he was leaning against vibrated with a sardonic chuckle. Though, he couldn't help but realise that Sasuke smelt just like that scent he'd caught earlier…it was kinda nice.

"Dobe…"

Naruto just groaned in response, letting his head thunk repeatedly against the shoulder that the blond was really beginning to hope wasn't injured. Why the hell did he have to like Sasuke again?

It was only really now that he could acknowledge how worried he'd been. At the time, it'd been blanked out by the sheer shock of watching them fight, and the daze that remained from his awful, late, revelation on his feelings for Sasuke. He'd been worried out of his goddamn mind, literally! Stupid, idiot Sasuke, nearly getting himself killed…He should hit him, just for that.

As Sasuke continued to chuckle, for seemingly no reason at all, Naruto gave in with a heavy sigh, and promptly slapped him hard on the leg, and pulled his head away to see Sasuke hiss in pain, before proceeding to glare at him.

"What was that for?!"

"For being a bastard," he replied simply.

"Hn."

Slowly, but surely, above their heads, the rain began to ease up, though the skies refused to clear completely of their clouds, leaving the world cold.

Shifting uncomfortably on the hard, and icy ground, Naruto released a weary sigh.

"Come on Sasuke-yarou, we've got to get you out of here."

Most of the bleeding seemed to have stopped, but it would be just fantastic if the bastard were to somehow bleed to death, or catch pneumonia. And the Uchiha's breathing had only lightened faintly as they'd been sitting there.

Sasuke merely grunted in reply to the suggestion. He then proceeded to try, and fail miserably at hoisting himself up, wincing and sucking in a lungful of air as he stimulated some still clotting wounds, not to mention broken bones. He fence gave an almighty 'clang!' as he fell down against it.

Frowning, Naruto moved to lift his arms under the other's, ignoring the Uchiha's grumpy complaints that he was 'just fine usuratonkachi'. It wasn't until, in their minor tussle of offering and refusing help, that Naruto found he had his arms about the boy completely, practically straddling him, with their faces barely two inches apart.

His vision was suddenly assaulted by porcelain pale skin, dripping black hair and even darker eyes. Sasuke's eyes were usually cold and hard, like pieces of flint, but at that moment, they were glinting with something unreadable. He felt Sasuke's soft breaths on his cheek and his face flamed in response. He could dimly remember this morning, when Sasuke had nearly been this close, and he'd felt sure for a moment that…

His stomach began its flutters with an unprecedented energy, most likely due to his recent recognition of his feelings towards the Uchiha. It was definitely something else to be wanting, _anticipating_, the other to kiss him. And he had to, simply had too, if they were this close…He needed it.

It wasn't until cool, chapped lips met his that he was aware that his eyes had slipped closed. Their lips pressed together for only a moment, before Sasuke swiped a tongue along the seam to open them, leaving a trail of wonderful tingles in his wake. With a yielding groan, Naruto complied; Sasuke's lips may be cool, but his mouth was burning out, and that was exactly what Naruto felt like; burning. It was a satisfying sort of burn though, feeling it start at his mouth before dripping down his throat to settle into a bonfire in his stomach, radiating outwards.

Letting Sasuke explore his mouth with vigour, Naruto tilted his head, determined to get nearer to that heat. After only a small hesitance, the blond forcefully joined in, reciprocating fully as Sasuke gave a small suck on his tongue. The tingles had burned away to something that Naruto couldn't quite place, but shot through his entire body in a pleasurable way. It was so _warm_, and even in the cold of the rain, their uncomfortable position and the blood seeping into Naruto's clothes, it didn't seem to matter.

It was more than a little sloppy, and Naruto felt more clumsy than usual as he pushed forward a little more into the other, hands slipping painfully along the gravel, but as they finally pulled away, both knew that it'd said what it meant to. Though Naruto couldn't deny that he instantly missed the heat, and his heart couldn't quite calm down that quickly, fluttering away madly as it was in his chest. He could still feel himself blushing.

Blue eye's glanced tentatively to dark ones, which were glazed with more than just pleasure. Reminded of their location, the blond hurried to lift the other boy off the ground, and to avoid having to say something he wasn't quite sure his mind would allow him to say correctly. He swayed a little under the extra weight as he slung an arm around the other's shoulders.

This time, thankfully, Sasuke didn't complain.

"So," uttered Naruto breathlessly as he finally regained his balance, "Where to go?"

Sasuke made a slight, unidentifiable noise into his shoulder, which may have been an "Hn."

Naruto couldn't help the slightly more than hysterical laugh that erupted from his throat.

"I know that you have your Uchiha speak and all, but some directions may be a bit more helpful."

Said Uchiha grunted, but gave the necessary instructions by whispering them into his ear as they went along.

* * *

Iruka hummed lightly to himself as placed a just-cleaned teacup on the draining board, next to several plates and cutlery that he had fished from the murky bottom of Kakashi's sink.

How that man hadn't contracted some sort of disease from unsanitary living conditions, he'd never know. Though, Iruka thought to himself, he should have known when he came to Kakashi's place, that it would be a mess. The only other person living in the vicinity in this penthouse was Sasuke and both of the two did not like others intruding on their personal lives, so getting a maid would be a no no.

At least Sasuke though had some sort of cleanliness, however. Kakashi clearly did not. He hadn't before Iruka left, when he was dating Kakashi before either, so it wasn't the greatest of surprises that now, it was _still_ horrendously unhygienic.

Of course, Kakashi had waved away his gentle reprimands, and insisted that Iruka abstain from his need to clean.

Humph, as if that man could deter him when his kitchen looked like _that. _

However, he did it with a certain fondness, even as Kakashi read nearby in a frustrated manner on the sofa. It reminded him very much of the brief time they had lived together. Though, by the time that Iruka left for Konoha, they hadn't been living with each other anymore. After all, his silver haired lover had had duties to the Uchiha clan at the time.

He sighed wistfully for a moment, before he jumped, letting a cup slide from his grip into the soapy water below, as arms encircled round his waist, and silver hair tickled his cheek.

"Now, now Iruka-koi, you've been doing more than enough, why don't you take a little break, hmm?"

Iruka opened his mouth to decline, but Kakashi wouldn't have it, as he started to pull him towards the sofa before Iruka had any chance to resist. It was hard enough to find time with his little Iruka-koi, and it didn't have to be wasted doing _cleaning._

Sighing in long held exasperation, Iruka simply let the man drag him from the kitchen, knowing he wouldn't be able to escape any time soon.

Though by that time, he most likely wouldn't want to.

And he did have to admit, that maybe it would be better time spent if he just relaxed for a little while. The living room was small, just like the rest of the 'apartment' Kakashi owned. Truthfully it was more of a little annex designated for Kakashi's use in the Uchiha penthouse at the top of the Uchiha's building in the central district. The clutter, was all Kakashi's.

Kakashi pushed him gently into the comfortable, yet old sofa, and quickly sat beside him, bringing him to his side with a possessive arm that had taken Iruka several months to get used to. After so long, it had felt almost foreign the first time he did it.

Though now he could say, after a few weeks, he was glad to back into a more familiar routine, though with Naruto, nothing could ever be quite peaceful enough…

Iruka let his eyes slowly slip closed, glad to just simply _sit._ Teaching young children all day was one hell of a work out after all, and just sitting here, not having to do anything, was nice…

He was startled from his musing by a sharp nip on his ear. He gave a startled yelp and fixed Kakashi with a glare as he nursed his poor, abused appendage.

"Kakashi! What on earth was that for?"

Kakashi gave a noise that was half growl, half whimper, and quickly leant in to trail kisses down the smaller man's jaw.

"We haven't had much time together recently," the silver haired man growled, lavishing particular attention to the underside of the man's chin for a moment.

Iruka blushed heavily, and brought up his hands to fend of the other man before he _really_ tried to molest him.

"I'm here now, aren't I? And we don't have to do _that_ every single time we see each other!"

Kakashi, for once, looked more than a little annoyed, his brow furrowed.

"That's because we don't see each other often! Not nearly as much as we used to, before you left," the man almost looked irascible, "Naruto takes up a lot of your time."

Iruka frowned, but didn't reply verbally. He knew that looking after Naruto _did_ take up time that he could be spending with Kakashi, and as much as he would like to chastise the other man for being jealous of a _child, _he knew that it was something of a sore spot for the man.

He'd left, stayed several years longer than he was supposed to, and came back with a son, for all intents and purposes. And even though Kakashi himself was growing increasingly fond of the blond boy, Iruka knew that the thought of being replaced was still niggling somewhere in that youkai mind of his. Iruka sighed internally. It was a situation he couldn't just smooth over, and if he tried to bring it up directly, Kakashi would simply get more irritated over the matter.

Leaning in slightly towards Kakashi, Iruka retorted.

"And back then the Uchiha's took up a lot of your time. You even had to move away remember? The only reason you're not too busy now is that Sasuke is a very independent boy- and because you don't have a full time job either. You can get a lot more done in a day. And you can't deny that Naruto needs some looking after."

Kakashi had nothing he could really say to that; it was true that years ago he'd been busy in his own life, and now Iruka was rather busy with his. Though, there was some consolation to the situation; Naruto was growing up, and Sasuke too, and so it wouldn't be too long till they went off, and Iruka would run out of excuses. And then, no interruptions would occur. It was a happy thought, but with Iruka's mothering, not likely to happen for years yet. In the meantime, he could only say-

"Naruto doesn't need you looking after him the entire time. He's a big boy now, Iruka-koi."

Iruka gave a small hum to show that he'd heard, but said no more. Kakashi merely sighed, before grabbing Iruka's shoulders to push him so his head lay in his lap and began to gently card his fingers through the brunette's hair, finding, as always, it to calm the both of them down. It was a reassuring thing, to find some things that didn't change, after they had been separated for so long.

Iruka let himself be moved with little hesitance, his field of vision tipping sideways; the small low table, the faded lamp in the corner, and the shuttered windows, rain just visible streaking down the glass windows to reveal a dull grey sky. The scene blinked out as he let his eyes slip shut, revelling in the feeling of Kakashi moving his hands slowly through his hair, allowing himself to relax completely in the hold, worries drifting away as he fought to stay awake. This was nice…

Not to mention a fond remembrance of old times as well. He gave a small chuckle, recalling that it took Kakashi a couple of years before they could just lay like this before he could prevent himself from doing anything perverted.

"Iruka-koi, what are you thinking of, hmm?" came Kakashi's voice somewhere above him, startling him from his drowsiness, and keeping him awake.

Iruka scowled a little as he felt stealthy fingers crawl up his leg to settle high on his thigh.

Forget it, Kakashi just became even _more _of a pervert.

Though, Iruka did have to admit that the poor man had been left pretty much starved for action for quite a few years in his absence. It was even enough to have a little guilt roll in his stomach.

He quickly let the thought slip away, as Kakashi continued to touch his hair, just like the rain outside, slipping down the glass.

"What are you thinking of?"

Kakashi's voice was oddly soft; as if he knew not to disturb the peaceful quiet they'd built in his small, badly lit, annex of an apartment. It made Iruka smile softly, and let his brown eyes look up at the masked man above him, happily soaking in the man's rather eccentric features of silver hair, mask and headband. He really did look rather silly sometimes…

"Oh, just remembering a few things, I guess…" he uttered drowsily.

"Oh? Like what?"

Iruka smiled a little wider, a few things springing to mind immediately, to make Kakashi regret that question.

"Oh, you know, just some things about us," he paused for a moment, waiting to catch the other man's full attention, which didn't take long, "like the time when you said you loved me for the first time- it was sweet."

Kakashi gave a groan, and shifted a bit, causing Iruka's head to move as well, though the man didn't seem to mind as his head banged against one of the squishy white cushions.

"Do you have to bring that up? I don't think I've ever felt quite as idiotic as I did that day…" he muttered.

Iruka laughed a little, jiggling a little up and down on the man's lap as a result.

"And you looked so worn out too, like you hadn't slept for days; if I remember correctly, back then you had a bigger amount of pride than Sasuke does, it took you so long to admit it."

Kakashi sighed wearily, and leaned his head back against the sofa cushion. Of all the things Iruka had to bring up…He fixed his gaze on an incredibly interesting spider web that was nestled up on his off-white ceiling.

"And then when I make my dire confession, you say you were just on your way over to see me anyway…" Kakashi completed the tale for him, still sounding slightly put out, all these years later.

Iruka couldn't but laugh once again, Kakashi's face after _that _incident still brought tears to his eyes sometimes. And the fact that said man was still grumpy over it to this day was just downright amusing. It was so hard normally for people to ruffle Kakashi, or to see him out of control in any way. Iruka, being who he was, had a great access to just that. Kakashi could truly make him laugh, just not in the way most people would think.

"Well," said Kakashi, his voice recovering to his usual lighter tone, "it may be one of the worst first 'I love you', but I've said it many more times after that day, haven't I?"

Iruka looked up with warm brown eyes, still faintly glinting with amusement. Kakashi may delight in teasing people, but that didn't mean that Iruka couldn't do it either, and at the look on the man's face, he decided to push it just a little further this time.

"Well," he pretended to think, "I'm not sure I can quite remember the last time you did."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow in mock surprise.

"Oh really? Well, you know Iruka-koi, I do much better at _showing_ what I feel, than saying it…"

Kakashi began to shift under Iruka's weight, and warning bells already started to go off in the brunette's head.

Oh dear.

Iruka tried to escape, scrambling to remove himself from the others lap with haste, but Kakashi was much faster, and quickly hoisted him up in his arms, leaving him to squawk in indignation as he was cradled against the man's chest. He felt himself begin to blush in humiliation. He suddenly remembered why he didn't try to tease Kakashi too often.

"Kakashi?! Put me down! Don't think you can just twist my words around like that!"

Kakashi smiled under his mask, unrepentant as he began to move the struggling smaller man over to his bedroom door, leaving the sofa behind.

"Oh, but Iruka-koi, you know its true," he leaned down to whisper in the other's ear, "and you know how much I love you, so let me show you hm?"

Iruka, blushing furiously, didn't get a chance to reply, apart from letting out a small yelp as Kakashi heaved him over his shoulder, and steered them through his bedroom door, before it was kicked shut with a 'bang!'

* * *

**A/N: Wow, a lot happened in that chapter, full of plot points and things to watch out for in the future. And, Sasuke and Naruto finally gets their acts together. Took long enough. Oh, and some kakairu, as my beta's been clamouring for it :P. **

**Next chapter, we finally get a big explantion we've all been waiting for, while the game just gets more dangerous. Things are gonna get tense! Hope you enjoyed the chapter, and don't forget to review- i'll see you soon, ja!**


	17. And the World Opened

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

**A/N: Heh, been a while, sorry. Editing has taken a long time for this one. This chapter has a lot of talking, and a lot of explanation, so i hope you can all follow it through. I'm very excited for the coming chapters though, as things are just about to become dramatic! So, read and enjoy!**

**I got the most reviews so far for last chapter, so i give you all a huuuge thankyou, and i apologize if i couldnt reply to all of them, i value them all greatly.**

Warnings: Allusions to violence, swearing, some gore, and a big chunk of explanation.

* * *

**And the World Opened**

Kakashi tugged on his shirt irritably and glanced out the corner of his eye to see Iruka already fully dressed, though he was having difficulties locating the tie he used to fasten up his hair in the normal fashion, leaving his chestnut hair falling over his eyes.

The knocking resounded once again. Kakashi growled under his breath.

Even though his apartment was mostly an annex on the penthouse, he had his own outside door, allowing him to come and go as he pleased. He'd insisted on it when he first moved in here, a couple of years ago now, when Sasuke decided to change residences to somewhere more…central.

And now he was cursing it to hell and back.

The infernal knocking continued, at an increasingly harried pace.

Feeling his ire rise with every beat, Kakashi strode out of his bedroom, prepared to deliver his anger of having his 'Iruka-cuddle-time' so rudely interrupted. The person on the other side of that door ought to be thankful they didn't decide to turn up only ten minutes ago; otherwise they'd likely be dead by now.

Kakashi reached the door, proceeding to throw it open with a restrained amount of strength, his knuckles white where they gripped the frame.

No force on heaven, or earth, however, could stop the menacing growl in his tone, as he demanded,

"_**What?!"**_

Wide, hesitant blue eyes met his, as Naruto leaned back away from the doorway, though he still remained where he was, rooted to the spot.

Kakashi's anger immediately melted into confusion. Naruto didn't know where he lived. Though the one accompanying him, it seemed, did.

The confusion in turn became something more akin to worry, as well as surprise, as Kakashi noticed the bent figure leaning heavily on Naruto's side. His keen eye noted the small drops of blood that followed the pair like a trail down the hallway, and he could easily make out the laboured breaths that came from the bloodied and torn figure.

Black hair and the unmistakable scent, marred with blood, identified it clearly as Sasuke.

Kakashi felt his mood take a turn for the worse; he never liked getting worked up with something like concern. And he had a bad feeling that this would be…a lot of trouble.

Naruto peered up at him with slightly wet eyes, his hair dripping water droplets into a steady puddle on the floor, the dim lights of the hallway illuminating him from behind.

"Can we come in?" he asked hoarsely, obviously worn out by having to drag the larger Uchiha however far to get there.

Kakashi gave a solemn nod, and heaved the deadweight that was Sasuke out of the blonde's surprisingly firm grip, feeling the nasty gnaw of worry start in his stomach. Naruto gave a hesitant nod of thanks and stepped in after him, having the thought to close the door after him.

"Kakashi, what's going on?" came a curios voice.

Iruka was leaning against the doorframe to the bedroom. Kakashi just gave a sigh, as he dumped the unmoving Uchiha onto his sofa, mentally noting that he'd probably have to bleach it later to remove the bloodstains.

Iruka's gaze quickly took stock of the situation, flitting from Kakashi, to Sasuke, and at last to Naruto, who looked baffled to find his guardian here, even as he strode across the small living space, to hover nervously over Sasuke.

"Sasuke," commanded Kakashi, uncharacteristically stern, "what happened?"

Kakashi felt unexpectedly antsy. He really should have expected this to happen sooner or later; Sasuke coming home bruised and bloodied from fighting, but it still hit him hard in the gut to actually see it. He'd spent years looking after Sasuke, no matter how much the boy complained about not needing it; he was a member of what Kakashi's more canine instincts labelled as his pack, no matter how irritating those same instincts could find the younger youkai. And seeing him like this…it was enough to agitate him.

He glanced surreptitiously over to Naruto, who he noticed was giving the Uchiha worried looks while staying close by, biting his lip. Though, he reflected, perhaps _some_ good could come from it; he couldn't stop the boy and it appeared, however much it may seem the opposite, that Sasuke had been victorious. But at the present, he was still concerned over Sasuke's apparent bad health. And worrying was for Iruka to do, not him. It irked him when he was forced into it.

Sasuke, despite possible thoughts to the contrary, was still conscious, and he let his eyes blearily fix on the tall figure of Kakashi, even as his head lay back against the cushions.

However, as he tried to open his mouth to speak, he couldn't utter a single word. Instead, a racking cough that sounded ominously wet filled the room.

The silver haired man instantly frowned. That did not sound good for the Uchiha.

"He got into a fight."

Naruto finally answered for Sasuke, voice sounding a bit timid. He'd never seen Kakashi act like this before; the man had always been disgustingly cheerful, even when delivering bad news. And now, he looked horribly serious. That couldn't be good, right?

"With who?" demanded Kakashi sharply.

"Gaara," muttered Naruto, not liking the stare that the masked man was treating him to. In fact, Naruto didn't like anything of the current situation; Sasuke was injured, and pretty badly too considering the scarlet that was slowly leaching into the previously white sofa, Iruka was _here, _though he couldn't quite be bothered to ask why _right now_, and he really had no idea of what was going on. About anything. It made him feel slow, and incredibly stupid, to be left out; and that was just what he felt.

Kakashi gave a rough sigh, and made his way over to Sasuke, pushing him to lean forwards a bit, so he could remove the Uchiha's tattered and very red school shirt. Sasuke winced fitfully at the forced movements, and clenched his teeth hard enough to make his gums bleed as he attempted to keep from screaming out the agony.

The fabric left the boy's skin with difficulty, the blood making it sticky, and revealed among the pale skin of Sasuke's torso, the depth of his wounds inflicted by Gaara.

Kakashi tossed the soaking shirt away, where it landed on the wooden floor with a wet 'smack!'

No one said a word as Kakashi continued his actions.

Naruto couldn't _stand _the silence.

"Okay, okay, I've had it!" he shouted, startling Iruka, and causing Kakashi to spare him a fleeting glance, "I have no idea what's going on here, and frankly, I'm sick of it. I mean, Sasuke's a youkai, I get that," Naruto paused, his blue eye's clouding in confusion, "Wait, no, I don't really get that either! I mean, has he always been one, is he like me, or-"

Kakashi cut across him with the biggest sigh of the day yet, and rubbed his forehead with a free hand. He gave Naruto a long look; noticing the way the blond had naturally taken up a stance near Sasuke, just a few steps behind the sofa, and the way his eye's, despite the anger, were also filled with worry, confusion, a large amount of weariness, and just a hint of fear. However, despite this, it appeared that the blond wouldn't be moving from his position anytime soon.

Looks like he's made his decision then.

"Iruka," said Kakashi at length, breaking the stare between him and Naruto, " would you get us some tea? Thank you. And Naruto, you take a seat, this is going to take a long time."

"What is?" asked Naruto curiously, feeling jumpy as he made his way to sit on the other end of the sofa, as Iruka left the room silently towards the kitchen. Kakashi ignored him for a moment, and instead bent the Uchiha forwards, and perched himself on the arm of the couch. He began running his palms down the pale expanse of the Uchiha's back (who though disgruntled, didn't bother to attempt to make a complaint), which was mostly clear of cuts, as if searching for something, before he finally replied.

"I guess you've been in the dark long enough, all the other youkai in the area know about it already. It wouldn't be safe any longer for you not to know."

"Know what?" asked Naruto irritated, feeling both insanely curios, as well as distinctly annoyed at the complete lack of forthcoming explanation. The man was infuriating.

"About us," said Kakashi simply, "The story behind it, and what's happening now- you'll understand better when you hear it."

Naruto nodded, though he had no idea or understanding of what the silver haired man just said. All he could appreciate at the moment was that he was finally getting some clear answers, so hopefully he wouldn't be stumbling round blindly in the dark anymore. On the way over, all he'd felt was numbness. He could feel the rain hitting his face, and the heavy weight of Sasuke on his shoulder, but he couldn't think properly past the directions that were uttered into his ear. It was probably some sort of emotional overload; he simply couldn't take it all at once anymore. He still most likely couldn't now, but if Kakashi was offering some answers, some explanation, then he wasn't going to be one to turn it down.

He sat as patiently as he could while Iruka bustled about noisily in the kitchen, and Kakashi began to rhythmically thump, with just two fingers, on certain points on Sasuke's back, mostly along the spine. After each one, the Uchiha would give some sort of noise; a cough, a groan or a hiss, obviously from pain. He blinked in bewilderment.

"What are you doing?"

"Hmm? Oh, this?" said Kakashi lightly, though his eye was stern as he gave a particularly painful hit on Sasuke's back, causing him to lurch forward in extreme discomfort, "Sasuke may be a youkai, or rather more accurately, _turning into _a youkai, but his healing ability is still developing. Oh, he'll heal pretty quick, but its best to help it along a bit at this stage, make sure everything goes where it should."

Kakashi finished off his little explanation with an overwrought smile, and Naruto could only nod bemusedly in response, tensing a little every time Sasuke was forced to shift. He fervently wished for Iruka to come back.

Fortunately, the man returned only a few moments later, laden with a tray and tea. He settled it down on the small coffee table, before taking a seat on the western style chair opposite. Iruka had a somewhat closed look on his face, his eyes downcast even as he reached for some tea; evidently bothered by something, though the blond was too distracted to notice it. For lack of anything better to do with his fidgeting hands, Naruto took a teacup dutifully, and gave it the smallest of sips. He looked at Kakashi pointedly.

"Maa, maa, no need to be impatient, I'll tell you…" the man paused, as if wondering where in the story to begin. In all truth, he probably was.

"I suppose I should start at the beginning…Now bear with me, all of this is important for you to know, and try not to interrupt, alright? This'll take long enough as it is…"

Kakashi's voice sounded distinctly put upon, as if he'd rather be doing anything but this. The man also looked distracted, as he absent-mindedly gave another of his tapping thumps on Sasuke's back, which resulted in a muffled hiss, and a glare from the recipient.

All of them ignored it.

"Well, thousands of years ago, there were two main races that lived in the world, ningen, or humans, and youkai, or demons. Now of course, they didn't always get along, and things weren't always peaceful between the two, but relations were well enough. While youkai were less numerous, they had much longer lives, and greater powers, where as humans could be more inventive, adaptable. The two different ways of life were probably what contributed to their downfall…" Kakashi trailed off in a muse.

"Their downfall?" prompted Naruto, when Kakashi didn't continue on immediately.

Naruto was staring raptly at the man, even as he subconsciously took a drink from his cup. Kakashi seemed to snap out of his wonderings.

"Ah yes, I'll get to that. At any rate, demons and humans lived together peaceably enough. Though youkai were often of the idea that they were superior to ningen, neither had ever lived a life that didn't include the other. It was practically unthinkable. However, many centuries ago, things began to change."

"…Yes?" asked Naruto carefully. He couldn't see where this was supposed to be going, or if it was even true; it sounded more like a bedtime story than anything real. But that didn't stop him from listening, full of curiosity. For, surely, this would be going somewhere good?

Kakashi groaned slightly, taking an instant dislike to the eager look in Naruto's eyes.

"Some humans," Kakashi deftly ignored Sasuke's snort of derision, "began to feel that a few demons were a threat. It had most likely been boiling under the surface in some communities for decades, before coming out in the open. Groups began to form, demon hunters."

"Demon hunters?" asked Naruto, feeling more than a little sceptical. It was really starting to sound like a children's story and nothing more. And things like that weren't real.

Kakashi gave a slight nod, disregarding Naruto's dubious look.

"Yes, and there are exactly what the sound like, demon hunters. At first it was only the lesser demons that were slain, ones that had little control; demon lords, a sort of nobility, were left well alone. It would have been unimaginable to attack them. At first. However, things quickly escalated as these things do. Groups of hunters became more daring, swelled by praise from villages and tales of corruption or 'evil'. Some hunters even began to call themselves _tenmakashi_- death to the demons."

"Tenmakashi?" whispered Naruto. Against his wishes, he was already being drawn into the story, almost forgetting what he had asked about in the first place. He could almost imagine the scene; like a sort of twisted witch hunt. He shivered where he sat at the comparison.

Kakashi gave a grim nod, as he distractedly slapped Sasuke repeatedly on the back a couple of times, frowning to himself about something as the boy coughed raggedly, his breathing terribly laboured.

The sound echoed round the room, causing the blonde to be unable to hold back a wince at the Uchiha's state, his fingers tightening around the cup in his hands.

"Yes. As you can imagine, it wasn't long before the most powerful, noble youkai were being hunted down as well, it was chaos; a frenzy. And the problem was, that most youkai didn't seem to think of it as much of a threat till too late. They were too complacent and proud, to think they could be hunted down and killed as well," Kakashi paused for a moment, single eye glazed over in thought.

"In the end, only a handful of the most powerful demons were left. They met together in the dark, to come to a decision of what action should be taken. It was obvious that they had been overwhelmed; hiding was by then the only option available to them. It was decided by many of those present to hide their powers, legacies, in their bloodlines, by breeding with humans-"

"Wait!" called out Naruto, "_with_ humans?"

There was a bit of disgust, as well as puzzlement on the blonde's face, which made Kakashi sigh. Young people…

"Yes, with humans. You should understand that not all humans were hunters and despised youkai, just as not all demons were maligned spirits, who didn't deserve what they got- its important not to generalise."

Naruto unconsciously pouted, knowing the man's words to be true. The blond gave a fleeting look towards Sasuke, who was still hunched over, head resting on his knees, matted dark hair falling over his face; he looked more than awful. During the lull of conversation, he could easily make out the drawn breaths, and how harsh they sounded against the soft patter of the rain outside. He really didn't sound well at all. He felt worry seep in again to gnaw at the edges of his mind, which he had done his best to block out on the way over; Kakashi would make sure he was fine. Right?

"Are you sure he's going to be okay?" he asked Kakashi apprehensively.

Kakashi spared him an irritated look.

"Yes, fine, fine," he waved the blonde's concerns away as he stared at Sasuke's back in concentration, before giving a particularly sharp whack with his two fingers, midway down the boy's spine.

Sasuke gave a horrendous jerk, and gave a rasping cough before starting to gag, as if he were choking, which caused both Iruka and Naruto to start, both looking mildly alarmed. Kakashi frowned a little, and repeated his action, which made Sasuke in turn give another lurch, his face contorted, as he spit something from his throat with enough force to land directly on the coffee table. Naruto stared, in no small amount of horror, at the small, white object, that could only be a piece of _bone_, which was surrounded in a thick clot of darkening blood, which began to congeal on the varnished surface.

Sasuke gave a pained groan and lent back, his face still contorted with the lingering pain, a mulish look on his face as his body gave a few phantom twitches. His body gave a final shudder as the Uchiha bent his face, bangs falling down as he bit back a whimper, clamping his teeth together in the process.

"Ah," said Kakashi lightly, though he also seemed a bit perturbed, "must of chipped off one of his ribs at some point."

Naruto was still transfixed in revulsion, and Iruka from the other side looked more than a little sick. Rain lashed against the windows momentarily, as a gust of wind rattled the glass in their panes.

"Kakashi," the brown haired man admonished faintly, obviously at a loss as he stared with aggrieved brown eyes at the previously clean coffee table, "maybe we should take him to the hospital?"

Naruto looked up, personally thinking that was a _very_ good idea. He was really beginning to consider whether Kakashi was really helping Sasuke at all. Surely it would be best to get some professional help? He really didn't like seeing the Uchiha like this; it made him feel helpless, which made his stomach turn uncomfortably.

Kakashi, however, shook his head negatively, "No, that would cause too many questions, especially with his faster healing rate. He'll be just fine, _won't you Sasuke?"_

Sasuke merely spared him a sour look before retreating to hide his face once again in his lap, releasing a shuddering breath as he did so. It was clear that he didn't want a fuss, even though his fingers were shaking as they gripped onto his knees.

"You were saying?" Naruto said weakly, eager to have something distract him from Sasuke's obviously rather serious injuries as he pushed away his distracting opinions on Kakashi's healing treatments.

"Where was I? Oh, yes the bloodlines. So, to avoid the loss of all the youkai, they hid their bloodlines within human ones. However, over the years, these descendants have kept a very close eye over those who have the blood. People descended from one particular demon have mostly come together to form specific clans. Some, like the Hyuuga's and the Uchiha's," here, he gave a small derivative nod to Sasuke, "have in the past become very selective of who could marry in. To keep the bloodlines strong, they felt they had to keep them pure- at first only letting those in the Uchiha clan marry, but as time went on, clans would intermarry, just to keep some of the youkai blood circulating."

At Naruto's perplexed look, Kakashi continued, "You don't have to worry about any of that though, it doesn't really matter anymore."

Naruto frowned, deep in thought. So Sasuke was from a clan of people who were descended long ago from a youkai? Well, that was simple enough. But, why did that make Sasuke a youkai _now?_ From what Kakashi had said, it seemed as if any trace of demon heritage was getting scarce, let alone to have enough to actually _be _one. And what about Kyuubi? How did he escape the hunters, all that time ago, only to get sealed just a few years ago?

He gritted his teeth; this was creating more questions than answers.

"So, why is Sasuke a youkai?"

Stick with the important bits.

"Well," answered Kakashi, as he pulled Sasuke back to rest against the sofa, seemingly done with his 'treatment' for now, "that's to do with what's been happening lately. You see, until a few months ago, Sasuke was completely human, and all his ancestors have been for quite a while, nothing different about them. However, he has the potential to become a youkai, though to do so is usually very difficult, nearly impossible in fact, to Awaken your powers. It's called an Awakening if you can, which is what I managed some years ago."

"Awakening?" asked Naruto, "So is that what Sasuke did?"

From his hunched position on the sofa, Sasuke's flinch went unnoticed.

"Not quite," said Kakashi softly. "Have you, by any chance, noticed that some of your school mates have been acting like youkai?"

Naruto thought for a moment, "Like Gaara?"

"Yes, I suppose, though there should be others as well. Usually you see, Naruto, there is only a couple of Awakened demons at any one time in the world, but recently, all of those who hold the bloodlines have been waking up, like Sasuke."

Naruto blinked.

Kakashi sighed.

"Here is where it gets complicated…" he muttered under his breath.

"The clans are turning into youkai, simply put, because we made them."

Here he put in a gesture that indicated both himself, and Sasuke. But he placed a greater emphasis on the younger boy.

"What?" breathed Naruto. He was turning into a demon…because of them?! Alright, he'd lost him.

"I don't understand," he said, in incomprehension.

Kakashi peered at him, and seeing the confusion, and slight hurt in those blue eyes, he couldn't help but let his visage soften, just a little.

"A few moths ago, Sasuke here implemented something called a koumajutsu."

"A…demon-technique…?"

Kakashi rewarded him with a nod.

"And its sole purpose was to revive the youkai blood that's been sitting dormant for centuries. When we speak about it like this, it sounds easy, simple maybe. But just so you know, it took years of research and hunting for the right components to make this possible."

"But why?" asked Naruto softly, "why would you want to do it in the first place?"

His question was not directed at Kakashi, but Sasuke.

The boy tried to speak, to answer him, but Kakashi gave him a well-timed thump on the back, cutting off any words he may have formed.

"Maa, Sasuke, you shouldn't try to talk yet, your poor lungs are in bad enough shape already."

Kakashi turned his attention towards Naruto, who was frowning at him from barely two feet away.

"Don't look like that Naruto, Sasuke has his reasons, and he didn't do this alone. Nearly all of the clan heads gave him their backing to continue on with it. There were a few old arguments; that we were in hiding for a reason, but the passage of time is wearing thin. In a couple more generations, it may not have been possible to Awaken any of the bloodlines at all."

Naruto was silent after that, and simply stared thoughtfully into his half drunk, now cold tea. His mind was whirling, and he wasn't sure he could quite take any more revelations in one night. And Sasuke sitting next to him, so close, yet obviously in more than a fair amount of pain…He simply wanted this day to end already.

"Umm, Kakashi?" Iruka timidly spoke up. Naruto almost fell off the sofa; he had completely forgotten the man was there.

"Yes Iruka-koi?"

There was a huffing sound from across the table.

"You told me about the koumajutsu-months ago, but you know, you never said how it supposedly worked. Since we're talking about it…." He trailed off suggestively.

Kakashi gave a contemplative hum.

"The technique is incredibly complicated and has several aspects to it that are far too intricate to explain. But simply put…I guess you could say that it creates something like a …pheromone perhaps, that travels in the air over a large area, which works a lot like a catalyst that brings the youkai blood to the surface. And like any catalyst, the more you're exposed to, the quicker the reaction is. Which is also why jinchuuriki, like Naruto, and Gaara, are becoming youkai as well; the seals would do it after a very long period, but with the koumajutsu in effect, it speeds up the process."

Kakashi looked oddly thoughtful, as if he hadn't really thought about it before, and so it was a new subject for him to ruminate upon. Naruto clenched his fists.

"How long?" he asked through gritted teeth.

"Hmm?" asked the silver haired man distractedly, peering lazily over to him.

"I mean, how long till the-… till the process is complete. How long until I'm a youkai?" Demanded Naruto, getting angry that Kakashi was once again playing it vague. He had been doing so well too.

"Oh…from the looks of things, you're pretty far along. It should be done within the next few days or so; tends to speed up near the end. By the end of the week at the latest."

They were all silent after that, as Kakashi continued to appear contemplative and Iruka stared silently into his own cup of tea, not meeting Naruto's eyes. The blond himself was plunged deep into thought once more.

Kakashi said it lightly, as if he was talking about the weather, but the atmosphere within the room was undeniably rather drab. The sky outside was dark; the clouds creating a curtain for an early nightfall, and there was an assured sombre that hung over all of them, though Naruto supposed it was normal, when talking about dark things.

Not that being a youkai should be _bad, _he amended himself quickly, but the history behind it was undeniably tragic; they were all killed after all. Or sealed, he reminded himself, as he thought about his own predicament and the seal that could be found on his navel. Though he had noticed over the past few days, that the tattoo was looking a little…faded, as if the black ink had been washed out too many times.

He didn't notice that his thoughts had drifted off until he heard Sasuke shift beside him, obviously uncomfortable as he aggravated some of his slowly closing wounds. He heard Kakashi move from his seat on the sofa arm.

"Come on Sasuke, let's have a look at those cuts of yours."

Sasuke gave a low hiss as he was moved, but otherwise stayed as limp as he had been for the past half an hour, seeming to accept for the time being that he did indeed require medical attention. That, however, did not stop the Uchiha from glaring at Kakashi as much as possible, even through his pain, as the man prodded at one of the deeper gashes in his side.

"Iruka, would you mind getting me some bandages, maybe a splint or two as well- you know where they are?"

Iruka gave a nod, and rose to get the requested items, still staying as silent as ever. Naruto frowned a little; Iruka was never usually this quiet or subdued. In fact, if this were normal circumstance, then Iruka would probably have tried to bandage Sasuke up the moment they arrived. And then there was the mystery of _why _Iruka was over here in the first place…

Naruto heaved a sigh and set his cup down on the table, purposefully not looking at the bloody…mess that Sasuke had choked up earlier. He rubbed tiredly at his forehead with his fingers, feeling his dry eyes sting a little. He was so tired already…

Iruka came back swiftly, and set down a fresh roll of white dressings beside Kakashi, as the man worked to bandage the boy up tightly, which sometimes caused him to bleed anew. Naruto felt himself hiss under his breath as he saw a bead of crimson roll over pale skin to drip off the Uchiha's limp fingers. Sasuke had lost by far enough blood for one day; he could see the amount that had already had the chance to seep into the sofa, let alone what he lost on the way over.

"Kakashi, are you're sure that's really helping?" he asked, feeling increasingly irate with the coppery scent of blood tickling his nose constantly. Sasuke didn't say a word, though it was clear by his actions that he wasn't exactly appreciative of Kakashi's efforts as he tried to resist; he even gave a snarl when the man pressed down particularly hard.

"Maa, don't worry about it, sometimes you just have to reopen a wound to make it heal better later; to make sure all the dirt has bled out. It looks worse than it is, really Naruto-kun."

Naruto didn't trust that curved, masked smile, and with a humph, Naruto shifted closer to Sasuke and leaned over the prone, nearly wheezing Uchiha, to pick up some of the bandages himself.

"Naruto, you really don't have to-"

Naruto cut across the silver haired man's words with a cold look.

"I know how to do it right, Iruka's done it plenty enough times to me."

And with not another word he bent his head as he began to wrap around Sasuke's middle, where Gaara had left a nasty slash in his stomach. As if he would let Kakashi carry on like that- Sasuke had been tortured well enough for one day.

Kakashi sighed, leant back and let himself simply watch as Naruto worked on diligently. He did notice though, that Sasuke wasn't resisting quite as much when Naruto did it; the thought made him want to break out into giggles. It was good to see that he could still find some entertainment out of all this; it made him feel in exorbitantly better humour.

Iruka sat quietly nearby, though Kakashi just _knew _that the sensei wanted to rush over and start fussing over the injured boy himself. However, Iruka was also aware that Sasuke would try his very best to refuse, though he was really in no condition to do so. Iruka probably thought, therefore, to leave it to Kakashi, or rather Naruto, to deal with it, even as his fingers clenched with the need to start fussing. They'd have to talk later.

Naruto finished up quite quickly, not bothering to waste time as he neatly tied off the last loose end. It may also have gone along quicker as Sasuke had become unresisting as he was tended to by the blond boy. Sasuke gave a small growl, which may have been of thanks, but was far too slurred to make much sense. The young youkai was probably at his limit, increased healing ability or no. In a couple days he'd be fine, but for now, he'd lost too much blood to stay conscious. In fact, Kakashi was a bit surprised that Sasuke had been able to force himself to stay wake for as long as he had. It was obviously catching up to him.

Kakashi stood up and wandered over to the pair.

"Time to get him to bed, I think, don't you, Naruto?"

Naruto nodded his head, and moved out of the way so Kakashi could pick up the near unconscious form of Sasuke. The Uchiha really did need to rest. Hopefully, he would wake up enough some time tomorrow so they could talk about things. A lot of things, thought Naruto with a small sigh.

He watched through increasingly blurry eyes as Kakashi lifted up Sasuke, shifting the boy into his arms. Naruto had half thought, what with him being bloody and bandaged, that Sasuke would look small in the older man's grip, but it was quiet the opposite. Even injured as he was, and obviously in a great amount of pain, Sasuke looked almost too big for Kakashi to carry; he held the Uchiha somewhat awkwardly, and as he passed through a doorway to, presumably, take Sasuke to a bed, he had to navigate the doorframe with quite a lot of skill to get them past. The sight almost made him frown.

He stared after Kakashi's retreating back, that took Sasuke along with it, before dragging his gaze away, and transferring it with great effort to Iruka, who was still sitting opposite, hands folded.

Feeling strangely vulnerable all of a sudden, which was simply ridiculous- he was with Iruka- Naruto brought up his knees and curled them underneath himself, taking advantage of the extra space on the sofa. The cushions felt stiff underneath him, but still wonderfully comforting.

Iruka treated him to a light smile, though the worry lines around his eyes were clearly visible as they creased.

"Don't worry Naruto, I'm sure Sasuke'll be up and about in no time, even if he doesn't heal quite as quickly as you do."

Naruto gave a bleary nod as his eyes fell to half-mast. He was tired…really tired.

Iruka bit his lip, and then gave a loud sigh that echoed in the small, rather cramped living room before he rose from his chair to stand anxiously before his son.

He lifted a palm to the blonde's forehead, checking the temperature of the tan skin, "Are you alright?" he asked kindly, "You've been out in the rain all day; we should probably get you out of those clothes. Don't want you getting sick…"

The man trailed off, and after a moments thought, removed his hand from Naruto's face, taking the warmth it momentarily provided with him. The blond was feeling increasingly sleepy now that Kakashi and Sasuke had left, and he barely registered Iruka leaving the room before he was back again, this time carrying some folded material over his arms, that he quickly identified as pyjamas.

From the scent, he also immediately recognized them as Sasuke's.

"Their Sasuke's but I'm sure he won't mind you borrowing some for now," said Iruka distractedly, as he placed them down next to him, avoiding the red stains that littered one side of the off-white sofa.

Naruto gently stuck out a hand to pick them up, feeling soft cotton under his fingertips.

Iruka stuck out a hand to pull him up, which he gratefully took, and he led him through a door, out of the small living area, and into a much different part of the building. He blinked as he registered the new surroundings, but didn't get much chance to observe as Iruka immediately jerked him forwards. Naruto didn't bother to complain about the treatment, far more preoccupied with finding a bed.

He just wanted this day to be over already. Just so he could _sleep…_

He didn't want to have to think anymore, he could do all that tomorrow, but for now, a bed was suddenly all he wanted.

Iruka led him to a decent sized bedroom, obviously meant for guests if the neutral colour schemes and sparse amount of bare furniture were any indication. The quilted bed looked more than inviting however, and the blond was half tempted to just fling himself on it and dive under the covers, not to emerge until much later.

Iruka glanced around the room for a moment, before fixing his attention on Naruto, who was standing rather dumbly in the middle of the room, holding the dark blue garments in one hand, while the other hung limply by his side. Blue eyes were already clouding over with drowsiness as the blond turned his gaze to the sensei standing by the doorway.

"Now, get dressed out of those wet clothes and go to bed, understand? You look exhausted," Iruka added, voice becoming more of a lilt near the end as he surveyed the boy through worried brown eyes.

Naruto didn't bother to verbalise his reply, and instead merely nodded, his grip on the pyjamas in his hand tightening as Iruka gave a small nod, surveying him with a piercing look as if to determine anything wrong with him. The man hesitated, before gently walking up to him and placing his hands on either side of the blonde's face. Naruto barely felt the gently calloused palms on his cheeks as Iruka rested their foreheads together, prompting the blonde's eyes to flutter shut momentarily.

"Are you going to be okay, Naruto?" Iruka asked softly, brown eyes peering at him intently, filled with an understanding that left Naruto feeling oddly lost, as he stood there in the middle of the drab room, clutching the clothes close to himself in a virtual death grip.

Not sure what to say to the man that was as good as his father, the blond could only nod stiffly in the man's hands, his thoughts more intensely focused on the bed to his left, rather than if he was 'feeling alright'.

Though he'd have nodded anyway, regardless.

Iruka gave a small frown, the lines in his forehead wrinkling as he pulled away slowly, obviously not intending to believe the boy in the slightest. His hands fell from where they had cupped Naruto's face over whiskered cheeks, and he gave a small, tired, sigh. There was nothing he could do about it right now, and so with a soft, regretful, "Goodnight," he backed up to the door and quietly left, closing the door shut behind him with a soft 'click'.

Silence descended, and Naruto blankly stared at the door for a moment, just now registering how dark it was, both outside and inside. He flumped down on the bed, not taking a single notice of his surroundings as he peeled off his still very damp school uniform.

School…he thought fleetingly. He'd actually been in _school_ this morning. It was such a strange thing…so much, _too much,_ had happened for that to sound right.

Naruto pulled off his clothes clumsily, fingers numb as he undid the buttons. He let the wet garments simply fall to the floor, uncaring to where they fell. Instead he awkwardly changed into the clothes handed to him and collapsed on top of the bed, relishing the small bounce the mattress gave in response.

He couldn't restrain himself as he lifted an arm to smell the cotton fabric; just like Sasuke… though not as strong as the real thing. The scent permeated through to fill his mind as he inhaled deeply, unconsciously relaxing on the unfamiliar, single bed.

Suddenly feeling even more tired than before, the blond summoned the last of his energy to crawl underneath the stiff, chilly, but nonetheless comfortable duvet, lastly settling his head against the pillow, momentarily marvelling at its softness.

His eyes barely had the time to blink once, before he was completely dead to the world, fast asleep.

* * *

**A/N: Hope you're still there after all that. I hope you can also see just how interesting things can now get, especially on the sasunaru front :P**

**tenmakashi- a little less tacky than 'demon hunters'?**

**tenma- bad spirit/demon**

**kashi- apparant death/death by aphyxsiation. Or according to a translator anyway!**

**Hope you all enjoyed that chapter, and the next should be up sooner- with more intrigue, more fun, and a whole lot more sasunaru, ja!**


	18. Sleeping Soundly

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

**A/N: I'm sorry if this wasn't exactly the definition of a 'quick update', but i tried my best with all the various things i have to do (which involves a lot of writing). However, i want to say thankyou for all of your reviews, i got the most ever for last chapter, so i was pretty happy :D This chapter's a bit lighter, and with some sasunaru fluff! So read and enjoy!**

Warnings: Swearing, Yaoi.

* * *

**Sleeping Soundly**

Naruto awoke slowly, eyes groggy with sleep as his eyelids parted minimally. Still more than half asleep, it took him a little while to process where he was, laying in a cold bed, his hands fisting tightly on the sheets. Blearily, he noticed that the closeted room was darker than before, signifying the late hour, right in the middle of the night.

He frowned to himself, lines crinkling on tanned skin; he must have been in bed for a good few hours, considering it had barely been mid afternoon when Iruka had ushered him off to bed, the storm having darkened the skies prematurely.

Though now awake, Naruto remained fixed where he was, barely even moving his head as he stared directly in front of him, blue eyes still covered with a dark film. His entire body he just _knew_ was sore and heavy, without even needing to move it a single inch. He almost felt as if he was sinking into the mattress, stuck like a rock. He was all for falling into slumber once more, but the dark yellow flickering of the hallway light kept his eyes open, shadows sometimes eclipsing the small gap in the door.

He could hear shuffles from behind it, as well as voices, one raised in anger, and another replying. They were being quite loud and it was clear what had woken him. It took a few seconds for his hearing to adjust, and the previously blurry voices materialised to form Iruka's and Kakashi's, and it was clear they were arguing.

"-I just don't know what we're going to do, Kakashi! I mean, its just one thing after another! And now they've started _fighting, _of all the inane, stupid things to do."

That was Iruka; hissing angrily, unseen behind the door, though he did see the light flicker, as if the man was pacing, up and down.

"Maa, maa Iruka-koi, you get too worked up."

There was a sudden stop in the flickering.

"Kakashi," came the low voice, "you are too careless. I have no power over Sasuke, but what if Naruto had got hurt, injured, wounded?! Worse, what if Gaara had killed Sasuke, and then just-_carried_ him off! This is exactly the reason I do not want my son to become involved in this mess!"

He sounded worried; more than usual. Naruto could just see him, stance wide and uncompromising, with a hand running agitatedly through his chocolate strands of hair, pulling it all free from its tie…

"He's involved, whether you like it or not Iruka."

The slight noise of a turning page echoed unnaturally in the room, strangely loud to the blonde's ears as it echoed through the small gap of the door.

The flickering of the light began anew with Iruka's pacing, an uncharacteristic snort issuing from the man.

"Did you see it Kakashi? When Naruto came in with him today?"

There was a slight pause.

"Yes, and I think it'll be good for the both of them. I don't see why you're so worked up."

The reply was mild, but Iruka did not seem calmed in the slightest, the pacing becoming more violent as he spoke.

"I have told you before, and I will do so again, I do _not_ want Sasuke anywhere near Naruto! I can't help it at school, but I don't want Naruto to get attached- Uchiha's are prone to violence, and don't you dare deny it! Today just proves it, and despite what you say, one day you won't be able to control him, and I think that time will come sooner than you think!"

The words were hissed frantically, and the flicker of the light was nearly constant; Naruto could see it through the slight gap in the door, the yellow illuminating a strip of his face, washing all colour from his skin.

"That may be true," said Kakashi, in a stern, warning tone he'd never really heard before, "but Sasuke can control himself, and he is hardly a danger to Naruto of all people! You forget I've been looking after him for years. If you want him to get violent, then please, continue with trying to remove Naruto."

He was angry, Naruto thought stupidly.

He could hear Iruka heave a few deep breaths, releasing them through huffs. The door creaked on its hinges as one of them, presumably Iruka, walked by a little too close, and the gap widened enough to show a small sliver of the scene beyond.

Kakashi was sitting, though rather rigidly, on a single chair at the end of the hall, right next to the living room door. Iruka was standing, a flurry of irritated emotions spread over his face. It appeared the argument had carried out from the living room and spilled into the hallway, and incidentally, moving them both closer to their respective charges.

Iruka bit his lip, only a small, thin rectangle of his face visible.

"I don't doubt you know him better than me, Kakashi, but that doesn't change the fact that if Sasuke-"

He cut himself off, voice oddly hushed, head tilted to face the floorboards as his fists clenched together. Kakashi observed him blankly.

"I just don't want Naruto with a demon-"

"But you are," said Kakashi in challenge, annoyance written clear across his face, mask or no. Naruto frowned minutely, lifting his head barely a millimetre off the pillow to free his other ear.

Iruka flushed.

"That's different!"

"How so?" came the steely demand, accompanied by a narrowed gaze.

Iruka turned away, and moved out of Naruto's limited line of sight.

"…They're too young for this. Naruto especially- I can't speak for Sasuke. But they're nothing more than teenagers, and I know for sure that Naruto isn't ready for the sort of commitment that Sasuke would demand from him- he doesn't know what he's letting himself in for. And he won't know how to deal with him."

Iruka was challenging him, and from the look on Kakashi's face, he didn't like it. Not a bit.

"If he were human, maybe. But he's _not _Iruka. So he'll be _just fine."_

It was a growled warning, but Iruka, obviously incensed, paid it no heed. He flushed yet again, and spluttered for a moment or so before finding his rage once more.

"You don't know that, and I wont have my son hurt, _or worse, _just because you-!"

Kakashi it seemed had had enough, as he stood, a menacing look crossing his face momentarily, halting Iruka as if he'd brandished a knife. The lonesome chair skidded a few inches back, until it collided with the wall behind.

"And _you…_You should be worrying about far worse things than _that_! There are far worse dangers, that _are_ a problem, so just SHUT UP!"

Naruto jumped in his bed, hands gripping the twisting sheets, and with the hairs on the back of his neck standing to attention. He was filled with the sudden urge to whimper, or whine, but he held it back, and clenched his teeth together as he saw Iruka nod numbly through the gap, expression contrite as he gazed at Kakashi with widened eyes, in Naruto's eyes, reminding him of a lost child.

Kakashi sighed, his anger instantly evaporating, gone as quickly as it came. He ran a hand through silver spikes.

"Look, " he said softly, "I'm sorry I yelled, but you must understand- we simply don't have time to really worry about any of that, not that we could do anything about it anyways."

Kakashi stepped across the short distance separating them, slowly bringing his arms about Iruka's waist, and leaning down to whisper softly in the man's ear. Iruka gratefully let his head fall on the other's strong chest.

"Let's just go to bed alright, it's far too late to be staying up- the little kiddies have been asleep for hours."

Iruka sighed, but acquiesced with a small nod, his eyes nearly shut already, and a tired look on his face. He let Kakashi lead him unresistingly back through the living room. Naruto saw no more as the light was switched off, plunging him into instant darkness, like ink suddenly spilled across an empty page, and causing him to blink rapidly.

He waited until all noise was silenced, the only sound a lonely car speeding past, and feeling wide-awake, he slid from under the cold, yet still comfortable bed covers. He padded on soft feet to the doorway, and peeked round into the hall, shapes already coming into a fuzzy focus.

Satisfied, he tiptoed across the corridor, scuffing the floor with his too long, borrowed pyjamas, following nothing but his nose to a particular door. He paused briefly before it, taking a deep breath and turning the handle, hoping against all the odds the hinges wouldn't creak.

Thankfully, the door opened silently, and Naruto quickly stepped over the threshold, closing it soundly behind him, and feeling an odd mixture of nervous and excited, leant back against the plain wood, as if to hide himself as he looked fixedly ahead.

He couldn't help but stare, the large windows, only half covered by the blinds, let street light illuminate the room, allowing more than enough light for Naruto's pupils to sharpen their focus perfectly.

He didn't really notice this little fact however, gaze far too intent on the peaceful figure laying on the bed, skin pale against the dark sheets; he couldn't tell the colour.

Sasuke, even with a body stiff with bandages, and slightly matted hair, still cast a handsome figure (at least in his eyes) and Naruto couldn't retain the small blush that dusted his cheeks as he recalled the searing kiss he'd experienced from those same pink lips. The fact that he was now alone with the Uchiha didn't help too much for his erratic heartbeat.

Biting his lip, Naruto slowly inched forward towards the bed, casting a nervous glance towards the closed door, feeling almost as if he was breaking rules by coming here in the middle of the night. He could half imagine Iruka barging in to scold him back to bed.

He shook it off though, and instead gingerly sat on a chair, pulling it up a couple of feet so he could be by the boy's bedside. Feeling unnervingly like he was in a hospital instead of a home, he tentatively reached out to gently take Sasuke's limp hand in his own.

The skin looked paler than normal, not to mention cold. He quickly became entranced with the appendage, staring down at it; he didn't even notice when he began to gently rub the cooled skin with his thumb, becoming lost in his thoughts.

For the past few days, he was sure he had, consecutively, the longest days of his life. And in this last space of twenty-four hours, his world had spun not only upside down, but right of its axis, only to be replaced with a completely new one, all jumbled and confusing. And only three people, Iruka, Kakashi and Sasuke seemed to hold any sort of place in it at the moment.

He sighed softly.

Hearing Kakashi's tale had been riveting and all, but for now, the greatest shocks where these two; firstly, he'd become a full youkai within only a few days, and that Sasuke was (however inadvertently) the cause of it. Oh, and he was a demon too, of course.

His head throbbed with the need to feel angry or betrayed, panicked and worried, but his heart, tired and rung out, simply refused to let another thing hurt him so. Oh, it twinged, but not as if he'd been stabbed from behind or anything like that. By this point, Naruto wasn't sure he really cared about whether he was a demon or not. After all, Kakashi was one, and so was Sasuke, and so, apparently, were some of his school friends. If he didn't know, he would have never guessed-they were normal people after all, with their personalities, and thoughts and feelings…

He was tired of doubting himself.

He was so engrossed, he didn't even notice when black eyes opened minutely, pale lids fluttering as the hold on his hand was noted.

Sasuke peered at the blond at his side, hair coloured strangely by the streetlight outside, and couldn't help a soft smile briefly flitting across his face, feeling oddly content and lazy as he squeezed the hand that was oh-so gently stroking his fingers.

Feeling lethargic, his amusement was muted to just a mere warmness as Naruto instantly stiffened, the golden spikes of his hair practically quivering with the sudden movement.

"Hey," he whispered past cracked lips, voice hoarse from both pain and sleep.

Naruto lifted his head, blue eyes searching his face compulsively.

"Hey," the blond muttered back, shifting uncomfortably on his chair.

In his haze, the Uchiha almost laughed.

Almost.

Naruto gave him a brief, weak smile, before returning his gaze to the hand he was holding, still refusing to let go. His usually azure blue eyes appeared darker than normal, but it could have simply been the reflection of the poor light.

Nothing more was said, and the silence stretched between them, not quite comfortable, but both too tired to much care about it. Naruto went back to softly stroking his hand, as if in a daze, his hair shadowing any expression on his face.

Sasuke tried not to shift or disturb him, though he could feel a steady yet dull pain throbbing through most of his limbs, with his chest and abdominal area a minefield of various twitches and aches. He didn't even bother to try to sit up.

Eventually, he summoned the strength to speak, finding a quiet Naruto unusual in a way that unsettled him- though just a bit.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked softly, the words lingering in the air like smoke.

Naruto rocked forward on the chair in surprise, and blue eyes darted to his own.

"Oh," muttered Naruto, feeling out of his depth as he struggled to answer with so many thoughts running through his head.

"Just about…" he bit his lip, sighing forcefully in a way that made him deflate, hunching over, "everything I guess…"

He trailed off awkwardly, feeling distinctly out of sorts all of a sudden. He may have decided that he simply didn't care anymore about being a youkai, but the world was opening up, and in the future, he didn't know what was going to happen. He didn't know, and he was unashamed, at least in his own mind, to admit the fact frightened him. He should probably just take one day at a time, like he did much of the time when he lived in Konoha, but still, having so much uncertainty in his life, when it used to be so simple, was daunting.

He didn't know if other's knew he was a youkai, what would happen with Gaara, what would happen to _him,_ or even about Iruka's real relationship with Kakashi, which seemed rather suspect to him, and hell- he didn't know where he really stood with Sasuke either…

He glanced up to the other boy, hesitant to ask.

Sasuke looked at him curiously through half lidded eyes, and somehow he found his voice.

"Sasuke…what are we?" he asked heavily, though the words came out as light as a whisper.

Sasuke answered with a half smirk, which looked wan against his sickly pale face.

"I was under the presumption we were demons- or close enough…" he mumbled groggily, eye's slightly unfocused as he tightened his grip on the hand still in his.

Naruto's face didn't even twitch, or change at all, appearing almost sad.

"No…I mean about us," he said, for once not being cursed with a single blush. He couldn't bring himself to look away from the injured boy on the bed.

Sasuke didn't reply right away, his dark eyes seemingly unfathomable. His face revealed nothing, and he looked at him so intently, Naruto resisted the urge to squirm.

At long last, Naruto was rewarded with Sasuke raising an arm to beckon him closer, gripping onto the blonde's hand tightly.

"Come here," he muttered softly, and pulled Naruto weakly onto the bed, the blond moving slowly to position himself gingerly on top of the other. He felt anxiety bubble in his gut; Sasuke felt so frail under his fingertips, weak and sickly, not the strong figure he usually held so well. It made him want to shiver, and not in a good way.

Before he could voice any of his concerns, however, Sasuke gripped the sides of his head, to draw him in close, seeing as the Uchiha couldn't sit up. He didn't even flinch at the pain that ran up and down his arms at the action.

Naruto found himself locked in an onyx gaze, and swallowed nervously; terribly aware of every single place they touched.

"Let's just…see where this goes, alright?"

The words were quiet and soft, with a tinge of coarseness as his breath touched against his skin.

Naruto gazed at him unseeingly, feeling somewhat comforted as Sasuke pulled him down properly beside him, his grip showing his unwillingness to let go.

"Okay," breathed Naruto, letting himself be comforted by the warm presence next to him, and by the intoxicating scent that hung all around him. Feeling incredibly heavy, and weary, he tucked his blond head under Sasuke's chin, already feeling the Uchiha's body go slack as his injuries forced him to sleep almost instantly. Lids heavy, Naruto quickly slipped off as well, happily curled about Sasuke's frame, clutching onto him tightly.

For the first time in days, he thought it might just be okay.

* * *

"Well, well, well, sneaking around behind our backs already…I feel almost proud…"

Naruto was awoken the next morning by the sound of Kakashi's cursedly amused voice. It sounded almost smug, which if he had been properly awake, would have infuriated him.

However, as he opened his eyes, and clumsily disentangled himself from a rather grumpy Sasuke, he couldn't help but feel embarrassed, face heating up like a blowtorch as Kakashi gained a strange, ominous glint in his eye.

"But you know Sasuke, with you injured, you'll have to abstain from any _sexual activities _until you're in better shape!"

Sasuke muttered incoherently, yet angrily under his breath, trying vainly to prop himself up, fumbling futilely in the mess of pillows and sheets. Naruto meanwhile flushed several different colours before throwing the closest thing at the silver haired man while screaming, "Pervert!"

Unfortunately, it was only a pillow that hit him in the face, and not something more painful and therefore satisfying, like a lamp.

Kakashi practically skipped gleefully out the room, leaving them be with the message that breakfast was soon, and lofty instructions for Sasuke to "take it easy".

Of course, Sasuke's own pride would never allow for it, and he was determined to get up and out of bed as quickly as possible, never mind all the pain and half healed wounds he was jostling about as he managed to swing his legs over the side.

Naruto gave only a half-hearted attempt to stop him, well aware how stubborn the Uchiha could be, and too tired to argue. That, and Sasuke _did_ look a lot better this morning, his skin a more 'normal' sort of pale. None of his bandages showed any blood either, so Naruto presumed that he'd be all right walking less than twenty metres and back again.

Well, Sasuke did make it to breakfast, but only barely and with many a muffled curse, and as soon as he sat down at the small, square table, he immediately slumped right over, his head hitting the wood with a 'thunk!'

"Sasuke!" Naruto called, moving immediately to his side after greeting Iruka and glaring at Kakashi.

Said boy only grunted to his enquires however, and pulled one of the plates Iruka just set down towards him, uncaring to the guarded, restrained looks Iruka sent him. Before Naruto had a chance to ask, said man was already backing into the kitchen, bringing the rest in at a frantic pace.

Kakashi meanwhile didn't seem fazed at all, completely ignoring the exhausted and injured boy moodily eating breakfast beside him. Iruka clucked his tongue in a way Naruto dreaded, and the blond hastily sat down himself amid the sort of restrained chaos, wary of the disproving glance the sensei had sent him. And the much harsher one he had given Sasuke.

He vaguely recalled his guardian's comments from last night, most pertaining to Sasuke in a negative light, and he hunched down a little in his seat, keeping his head down as he ate, relishing the warm, home cooked food; until then, he hadn't realised how long it'd been since he last had any sustenance at all. He'd deal with Iruka later. Much later, if possible.

After a few minutes of diligent consumption, he glanced up, and couldn't help but note the utterly bizarre scene. Sasuke, Kakashi, Iruka and himself, all seated round a small table in Kakashi's apartment, eating, and all looking horrifyingly domestic in a way that reminded Naruto almost painfully of a family, no matter how dysfunctional this one might be.

He felt a gentle warmth settle in his stomach that had little do with Iruka's home cooking.

Hiding his small smile at the thought he tuned into the background noise of Kakashi and Iruka talking- more Iruka-, which he found to be nothing more than pointless small talk; he found it strangely comforting. And as expected, Sasuke was contributing nothing to the conversation, staring with half closed eyes at the tabletop. He appeared so engrossed in his staring; Naruto didn't feel too inclined to bother him. The blond was content to simply tune it all back out when Iruka suddenly called his out his name.

"Naruto, after this I want you to get changed- I'm sure we can find you something- and then I want us to go home. We've imposed on Kakashi long enough, and Sasuke needs some peaceful time to heal."

Naruto nodded faithfully in response, not voicing his irritation that he couldn't keep on eye on Sasuke for longer. He tilted his head to stare at his almost-empty plate so Iruka couldn't see his frown.

Just why did they have to leave so soon? I mean, yeah, he'd sorta come in yesterday without any notice, but he didn't think Kakashi would mind them staying a bit longer- not to mention he had a few questions for the man. But in the end, he had no real reason to object to Iruka's decision. Even if he did want to stay with Sasuke a little bit longer.

Iruka appeared satisfied, even though Kakashi had a small frown on his face as he gave the brown haired man a sharp look. Iruka continued.

"You've had a bad few days, so I think it'll be good for you to have some time off as well…"

Naruto blinked in surprise but didn't comment- if he was lucky he'd be able to skip school, maybe even up until Monday. And that was worth keeping his mouth shut and not questioning Iruka's sudden generosity.

The rest of the meal was over quickly-like the rest of the morning- disappearing in a flash, and the time came for Sasuke to retreat once more to the confines of his bed- much to his own protest, yet Kakashi proved to be surprisingly adamant. And Iruka could also be surprisingly quick at organising their leave. Within fifteen minutes, Sasuke was grudgingly ensconced in his bed, and Iruka was calling for Naruto at the door, doing a last check for his car keys.

The blond winced at the calls to his name as he stood at Sasuke's bedside for a second time. He glanced down towards him, an uncertain expression on his face.

"I've got to go…" he mumbled.

"I know," said Sasuke, in such a way causing the blond to flush in embarrassment and stare pointedly away.

Stupid bastard.

He should just leave for that.

However, Naruto was barely able to take a single step when he was forcibly pulled down, eliciting a yelp from the blond that was cut off as lips closed on his. Blue eyes immediately fell shut as if programmed, cool lips moving sensuously against his own. It was just about to become deeper, Sasuke's tongue probing the entrance of his mouth, making a groan begin to build in his throat, when Iruka practically screeched his name, and the blond was forced to pull away with a curse, running out the room with nothing more than a high pitched "Bye!" towards the smirking boy laying on the bed.

* * *

**A/N: Nice? A bit more light hearted i think, and much faster pace. We're about to get to the really interesting bits, more action, more demons, and best of all, more sasunaru :P And remember, this story is M for a reason!**

**I should update pretty soon, so until then, ja!**


	19. Just a Day

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

**A/N: Sorry guys for the wait! I can't believe it was over a month, time has just flown by! Its probably been that pesky, back to school/work/post summer lull we all seem to be suffering from! However, the next chapter is here!**

Warnings: Umm...yaoi?

* * *

**Just a Day**

"Naruto!"

Blue eyes blearily slid open a fraction, glazed with sleep-induced confusion. Sunlight drifted in through the half open window, the curtain fluttering with the early summer breeze.

"Naruto!"

The blond yawned, and uncomfortably rolled over; the stern calls white noise to his ears as he buried deeper into his pillow.

Iruka muttered darkly to himself, finally putting down his papers to storm through the small apartment to rouse his wayward charge.

"Should have never let him have a few days off…lazy boy…"

Without even bothering to knock, Iruka grabbed the doorknob and threw it open, letting it slam against the wall, just in time to see a flustered blond sit up abruptly and grab the nearest thing, a pillow, to shield himself with.

"Iruka!" yelled Naruto, unpleasantly surprised with his wakeup call. He looked on with fear as his guardian breathed fire from the doorway.

"Naruto," growled Iruka, "its Monday morning- you have school. Get yourself _up_, or we'll be late!"

Naruto nodded dumbly at the raging man- anything to get him out the room. Luckily, Iruka appeared satisfied that he had inspired enough terror to get the boy moving, and left, slamming the door closed behind him in a whirlwind of exasperation.

Naruto stared wide-eyed at the door for a few moments, not moving an inch before the breath he'd been holding came out with a whoosh of relief. He relaxed back against the blissfully soft duvet.

The expression quickly turned to a grimace; however, as he threw the pillow to the floor, gingerly lifting his sheets, as if expecting a sabre tooth tiger to be lurking under it, ready to pounce.

The blonde gave a small, experimental wiggle before cursing, his face flushing through all the intimate shades of red.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck. Shit!"

Wincing at the wetness of his sheets, and the distinctly uncomfortable sensation caked on his thighs; the blond stiffly removed himself from the bed, piling the duvet so that the stain was completely covered from prying eyes.

This was _soo_ not the way to wake up.

He'd have to wash the sheets later, when Iruka wasn't around, and he could reach the washing machine unhindered, he thought miserably.

As it was, he was left to scrabble furtively to the shower to remove the mortifying evidence from his person. As he scrubbed his skin raw with soap, the suds falling carelessly down the drain, he cursed Sasuke non-stop under his breath.

Fucking bastard.

This was all his fault.

* * *

The morning, like most mornings in Naruto's routine, was rushed, hectic, and inspired veins to pop on Iruka's forehead. As he sat in the sensei's car, his uniform ruffled and his bag slowly but surely spilling its contents all over the floor, he absently wondered if Sasuke would be in today.

The Uchiha had sustained serious injuries from his fight with Gaara, and last time he saw the boy, he could hardly walk- his pride the only thing keeping him upright. Surely, he would need more than a few measly days to be recovered. And now that he thought about it, would Gaara be in school either? And if he was, what was he supposed to do about it?

With all that had happened that day, Gaara had been one of the last things on his mind, but now he was faced with the reality that he would indeed see him again, face to face. And the last time that happened, he'd kissed him- against his will- and then proceeded to practically maul Sasuke right in front of his eyes.

Naruto frowned, his expression stormy as he stared unseeingly out the window, cars flashing past in a blur of colour and noise. He didn't even pay attention to Iruka's uncharacteristic yelling as they were cut up before a junction.

He felt a nameless unease stir in his gut, bubbling away almost unseen, but quickly dismissed it as the school came up into view, plunging his hand down beneath the seat to forage for his bag.

He should just ignore him, that's all.

However, as he hopped out the car, waving to Iruka haphazardly as he sped towards the gates, he couldn't help but feel that today was going to be a long day.

"Oi! Blondie, yeah, you! Where the fuck have you been man!"

He glanced up, to find a frantically waving Kiba at the other end of the hall, who was drawing the attention of perhaps everyone in the vicinity, who in turn stared at him like a free freak attraction.

Make that a long, _long _day.

* * *

"So," Kiba whispered over the table, leaning carelessly over the back of his chair, "Where've you been? All people know is that- well, Gaara _kissed_ you in the hall," here the boy promptly broke down into sniggers, uncaring to the fierce glare Naruto directed his way. He only stopped when a frustrated Ino clubbed him over the head with a rather thick History textbook.

"Ow! Watch it woman- hey, ow, stop doing that! _Anyway," _growled Kiba with a sore glare towards a preening blond girl, "you got tongue raped by eyeliner guy over there, and then apparently _Sasuke _showed up."

Kiba paused, perhaps for dramatic effect, as he leaned across the desk, Ino, Sakura, and even Hinata following him like puppets on a string.

"And then all three of you simply _disappear!_ What the hell?!"

Naruto desperately tried to avoid the ravenous gazes of his 'friends', their eyes glinting with the desire for juicy news and hot gossip. The blond could do nothing but grit his teeth and fiddle with his pencil. What could he say? That Sasuke and Gaara had a big fight, which could easily be construed to be over _him_?

Simply the thought made him want to sink through the floor in embarrassment. Or perhaps merely hiding himself under the desk would do. At any rate, it was mortifying, and Naruto was highly glad he hadn't seen Gaara or Sasuke anywhere yet today (the disappointment he felt upon not spying the characteristic black spikes was _only_ to do with Naruto's need to chew the Uchiha out about all the stuff he'd realised when given time to think on it- like that last kiss for one thing! It had absolutely nothing to do with anything else).

Of course, though Naruto had been often lectured by Iruka-sensei that 'silence was golden', Kiba was taking the divine opportunity to fill in the gaps.

"Hey, did you guys go off for some weird gay threesome or what-? Ai, ai, ai, ai, ai!"

Kiba rubbed his head pathetically, gazing sorrowfully up at the fuming blond that was brandishing a fist ominously.

"Kiba," said Naruto through gritted teeth, "just _shut up_."

The wild boy opened his mouth to reply, but Naruto was thankfully saved by the bell, signalling the end of registration. He was out of his seat and away before any of them could even realise.

As he sped out the door, he dimly heard Ino and Sakura yelling furiously at Kiba, who winced under the combined screeching and beat a hasty exit too.

Naruto ignored the scene however, and determinedly kept his head down as he navigated the many corridors.

If he just simply avoided everyone all day, he reasoned to himself, there would be no problem.

Of course.

It was sheer brilliance.

Obviously, Naruto's reasoning was incomprehensibly flawed, but the thought at least gave him a momentary peace. He'd been heckled by his so called 'friends' the moment he sat down, after being frog marched to the room by Kiba, who nattered on and on, being a surprisingly avid gossip. Too much time with Sakura and Ino no doubt. Then, once Kurenai got to the notices, her voice fading to a background hum, they'd pounced, from all sides and boxing him in with no hope of escape.

Then, the torture had started. Apparently, all three of them, being Gaara, Sasuke and himself, hadn't been seen since the altercation the previous Wednesday. It now being the next Monday, tongues were wagging at such high speed and rumours were being churned out at a ludicrous pace, that it was impossible for him to manage to pass it off with a wonderfully simple 'its none of your business'.

Knowing people like Ino and Sakura, that would just make it all the worse.

So best not to say anything at all.

It made Naruto groan in despair as he noticed all the looks, that literally _everyone _was throwing his way. As the only one involved who was there/ approachable/ not liable to kill, he was hounded all through the corridors, and even during his classes for the entire day, with no hope of an end in sight.

By the end of Biology, he had a literal pile of paper questions all balled up on his desk.

By the time lunch rolled around, he was finding it hard not to cry as he stealthily crept down one of lesser known stairwells, ears pricked for any sign of gossip hounding girls, his hair in disarray, his shirt untucked, and his laces untied. He inched slowly down, warring internally with himself if it was worth going to get lunch, or starve.

His nose, as well as his stomach, was undoubtedly winning the fight.

Though, even with all his senses fine tuned to detection, it was surprisingly easy for someone to sneak up from behind.

"Dobe."

Or Sasuke was simply mysterious that way.

The sudden voice made the blond jump so bad; he almost fell down the stairs, tripping on his laces. Fortunately, with an irritated sigh, Sasuke hooked an arm round his waist and hoisted him up. Unfortunately, for Naruto, he did not afterwards bother to remove said arm, but rather seemed quite content to leave it there.

However, Naruto couldn't find it in himself to mind too much, as his brain finally caught up with who it was that had suddenly appeared before him.

"Sasuke!"

Said boy arched an eyebrow.

Naruto rolled his eyes.

"I didn't think you were here today, you bastard, where have you been?!"

Sasuke gave a small, dignified, kind of snort, as he began to move the both of them slowly down the stairs. Naruto, seemingly riveted on watching Sasuke, didn't notice.

"Kakashi was as late as ever," he remarked, as if that explained everything, "and he was surprisingly picky about my health."

The Uchiha sounded vaguely disgruntled, and Naruto had a sneaking suspicion that Kakashi was in actual fact being obnoxious again; and that Sasuke wasn't telling the whole truth.

Deciding he didn't want to know however, considering Kakashi's past record of perverted-ness, he deftly changed the subject.

"So, you're feeling better now?" asked the blond innocently, and for a moment, he could have sworn he saw a whisper of a smile dance across Sasuke's face.

"Mmm, yes. I suppose so…"

Naruto blinked, looking at him questionably as Sasuke trailed off. He was unprepared for Sasuke to suddenly move, his head falling so he was at eye level with Naruto; his lips placed teasingly close to his ear.

"But I'm sure I would've made a better recovery, if you were there to kiss it better…"

The breath tickled his skin- horribly, and despite flushing with embarrassment, he couldn't help from bursting out with laughter at the tickling sensation, his hand jerking immediately to rub at the spot on his neck that tingled.

"S-sorry…" Naruto coughed out breathlessly, as he vainly tried to put a cap on his giggling fit. Sasuke merely pulled away, a disgruntled expression on his face.

"Come on," the Uchiha grunted out, grabbing the blonde's hand and leading him off, the storm cloud over his head getting darker as Naruto continued to laugh his head off all the way, feeling carefree.

Half an hour later, he was no longer laughing. Apparently, reappearing to the school population at large, in the presence of one previously missing Uchiha Sasuke, was more than enough to set them all off again in a fit of frantic whispers. Sasuke ignored the sudden increase in chatter, nonchalantly sitting himself next to Neji, who gazed back with an amused look. Naruto faired worse, scuttling over to scramble to a seat between Hinata and Sakura, before realising his error as they girl turned gleaming green eyes to his trembling form, talons reaching out to prevent his escape.

And now, after being rescued from Sakura by the imminent end of lunch, afternoon classes were drifting by at a snail's pace, causing his eyes to droop periodically as he propped his chin lazily on his palm.

Man, he'd never thought that such a simply incident would be such a hot topic. I mean, it was kinda scandalous, being pushed against the lockers and molested by Gaara, another _boy_, but it was _Gaara. _The only real surprise was that he hadn't attempted to at least maim him a little. Sasuke, however, seemed to be a different kettle of fish- considered to be fair game to every girl in Shichiyou, every single thing he did, or was even vaguely related to, was heavily discussed- at length. His involvement with the new, strange transfer student from out the city just added to the exotic flavour of the month.

Or, that was what Ino had muttered reverently, when he'd made the mistake of asking what the whole big deal was.

Sigh.

He was just about to drift off again when something hit the back of his head. He glanced sideways as he caught the little paper ball, wondering how Sasuke could possibly throw in an arc to make that little manoeuvre feasible, when he was sitting right next to him.

Scowling, he tentatively smoothed out the scrunched paper, frowning at the flowing, flawless handwriting that adorned the crinkled surface.

_Five minutes._

_Outside in the tech corridor._

Naruto bit his lip, frowning. Blunt and to the point, that was Sasuke all right. He chanced another glance in the Uchiha's direction and found himself caught in a half lidded gaze, polished onyx eyes bearing a glint that instantly set his pulse racing.

He swallowed heavily and averted his gaze.

He glanced back down to the note, and then to the drably lecturing sensei at the front. The board was full of notes that he hadn't even bothered to copy down, yet the surrounding students were diligently scribbling away, heads bent. All of a sudden he felt a rush of rebelliousness flood through him, the exhilaration bringing a sly grin to his face.

He nodded unobtrusively in Sasuke's direction and five minutes after the Uchiha excused himself, he followed, disregarding the annoyance that flitted through the teacher's expression.

He barely made it to the corridor before he was forcibly grabbed and pushed up against the wall.

* * *

The bell rang shrilly from overhead, and Sakura absentmindedly put away her colour pens, daintily zipping her pencil case shut. She packed away the rest of her things just as slowly; full well knowing that Ino would wait for her.

And indeed, the blond girl was soon hovering over her desk.

"Hey, come on! If we don't move fast we won't be able to catch Sasuke-kun on the way out!"

Sakura gave a small laugh as Ino impatiently bounced, but she did hurry to pick her bag up, flinging it over her shoulder as they made their way out the classroom, ignoring the few boys that were mucking about in front of them. She flicked her pink hair over a shoulder.

"Don't worry Ino, I know for a fact that he'll have to drop by his locker before he goes home, so we can catch him then." She leaned closer to Ino, whispering conspiringly, "Almost makes me glad that Naruto didn't say anything- it's a good chance to talk to Sasuke-kun after all!"

Ino chuckled, her turquoise eyes glinting, her silver earrings dancing as she walked.

"Yeah, though its all a bit of a mystery isn't it? I heard that Sasuke and Gaara got into a fight! Like, a proper one- though nobody saw it," she pouted, "and Gaara hasn't turned up yet either…its make you wonder…"

Sakura glanced over.

"Wonder about what?"

Ino shrugged.

"Just, don't you think it's a bit strange? I mean, sure, Gaara molested Naruto, but I didn't think blondie and Sasuke-kun were that close for him to defend him like that, you know?"

Sakura hummed contemplatively, emerald eyes flashing.

"But boys are weird like that don't you know? They say all the time they hate each other, but they don't. And besides, I wouldn't be surprised in the least if Gaara did more than that- he might have threatened him or something! That may be why Naruto doesn't want to talk about it!"

"I guess…" muttered Ino, a frown still adoring her face. Sakura gazed at her curiously, hugging her books tighter to her chest.

"Hey, Ino, what's the matter?"

The blonde girl bit her lip, and gave a half shrug.

"It's just that…don't you think it's a bit strange, that no one else out of us wants to know so bad about what happened? I mean, Kiba was being obnoxious as usual, and Shikamaru doesn't ever care about anything, but the others…"

She trailed off, shaking her head.

"Just a bit weird you know? As if those lot know more than their letting on- hey!"

Ino stopped, holding a hand up, her eyes glittering with revelation.

"You don't think Naruto told them do you? But not us 'coz he thinks we'd tell everyone else?!"

Sakura shook her head violently; pink hair flashing in the sunlight streaming through the tall windows.

"No! Naruto would trust us about it- he's not one to be sneaking around like that."

Ino gave a faint smile of relief.

"I guess."

Sakura nodded primly, and was just about to move off when a muffled sound stopped her in her tracks. She glanced quizzically at Ino, who affirmed that it wasn't simply her imagination. They both glanced up and down the hallway, but there was no one else. It had become quite empty as they meandered slowly to their next class. Finding no one as the source, they shared a confused look.

They could have passed it off, however, as a simply strange occurrence, when a low voice stopped them.

It appeared to come from the depths of the small, cramped corridor to the left, which branched off into the dark. Ino and Sakura traded looks, before stepping closer. For that sound had sounded suspiciously like a groan. And if someone had injured themselves, then it would be immoral just to move on and leave them there.

The space was dark and dimly lit, but as they both moved to the edge of the corner, another moan like sound echoed, and they peeked curiously past. Only to halt, stupefied at the scene.

Two, obviously male bodies, were tangled together in the small space, their uniforms missing buttons and roaming hands wandering, gliding over glistening skin, hoarse and husky groans being emitted as nimble fingers found sensitive spots. Hair, black and gold, melded together almost as one as it was fisted by tans hands, creating a slick mess of locks. Mouths were firmly attached, tongues roving at a frantic pace, moving in sync with the hips that were grinding together passionately, conspicuous bulges rubbing up against one another.

Sakura and Ino remained frozen at the scene, not even blinking.

It wasn't truly the graphic display of two boys that struck them dumb where they stood, but the recognition of the two. Golden blonde hair, tan skin and glazed, pleasure filled blue eyes, coupled with raven hair and cream skin. And guttural voices that could still be recognised, growling and panting, enough to cause shivers racing down their spines.

"Sa-Sasuke-…kun…" Sakura whispered, eyes widening as they began to shimmer with tears. She stumbled back a step, disbelieving as Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke continued to thoroughly explore one another, unheeding to their audience. Ino barely tore her gaze away at her friend's plaintive whisper, a stunned look widening her face.

Sakura's bottom lip quivered before she span on her heel and ran, clutching frantically to her books. Ino hesitated a moment, sparing one last glance to the pair closeted away with each other before giving chase, calling her name at the other girl's distress.

"No! No, _no!"_

Sakura shook her head, in tears as she ran, unheeding to Ino calls after her.

As the footsteps faded away, Sasuke and Naruto briefly pulled away for air. Sasuke stared down at the panting blond, whose tan chest was heaving, a soft sheen of sweat glistening in the dip of his collarbone. His lips were swollen and a delightful red, his hair every which way, and those eyes were darkened with lust, glazed over just for him.

Feeling immensely satisfied with their position, and his mate-to-be's willingness, he barely spared a glance to the empty hallway, though he did have a smirk stretched across his features as he bent down for another sensual perusal of _his _blond.

* * *

**A/N: So, you like? It seems a bit filler-ish, but its really more like transition :P People are beginning to get a bit suspicious huh? And we get a bit more sasunaru action, though it wasn't too graphic...yet. There was going to be another scene after this one, but my beta decided that it would be too mean to you, so its been shifted to the beginning of next chapter. So just hold on- this ride's about to get wild:P**

**So, hope you enjoyed it, and don't forget to review!**


	20. All Day Long

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

**A/N: Hey, sorry this chapter took so long. But its pretty long, so yeah...Anyway, thanks very much for your reviews last chapter, and i hope you enjoy this one!**

Warnings: Eh...the usual.

* * *

**All Day Long**

The room, as seemingly all rooms of a sinister nature, was dark, the blinds drawn down to their fullest extent, and a haze of cigarette smoke filled the air. There were few prominent features, only the large table and an assortment of chairs breaking against the line of grey walls.

The few people seated about them were equally unremarkable; which was understandable, considering they were trained to be.

They spoke lightly, postures relaxed as they lazed over the stiff furniture, the odd file or pile of papers left only half-heartedly perused.

They'd seen it all before, so why bother?

However, despite the initial languid atmosphere, there was an undeniable current of anticipation in the air, that kept backs stiff and caused eyes to flick periodically towards the door, waiting.

An aggravated sigh broke the silence.

"Sheesh, you ask for one little thing, and he can't even be here on time- who does he think he's kidding?"

The man, with spiked hair and various bandages, huffed in irritation, folding his arms discontentedly.

Another, next to him, rolled his eyes.

"For fuck's sake Kotetsu, calm down. He's not that late, and besides, waiting is what we're good at, ne?"

A flurry of sighs, shifts and sounds of disgruntled agreement echoed around the room.

"Don't bring that up, you idiot. As if we need reminding- we're barely had anything to do for fucking centuries!"

The speaker was a woman, dark hair that flashed purple under the dull lamps.

"We're actually kinda lucky," she mused, leaning over the table, showing a good amount of cleavage in the process, "we at least have something to do! Things are getting exciting for once!"

She threw her arms childishly in the air, causing a spasm of eye rolls in her vicinity.

"Calm down Anko-san," muttered 'Kotetsu' weakly, giving the strange woman a wary look.

Anko sighed to her herself, and slumped back into her seat, idly bringing a senbon needle from nowhere to flit between her fingers.

An awkward silence lingered after that, the several members of the room at large shifting impatiently in their seats. Time ticked slowly by, figures slumped over in chairs or over the table. The smoke cloud got even heavier, and one member even appeared to fall asleep.

It was a shock, therefore, when the far door eventually opened.

Anko sat bolt upright in her seat, a sinister grin forming across her face.

"Aha! Now we're getting somewhere!"

The newcomer did not appear fazed, and simply ignored her as he moved to seat himself at an empty spot at the table, letting the door shut behind him. All of the others sat forward in their seats.

"So," commented one, a thick bandana shielding most of his head and face, "what've you got for us Sai? This better be worth our while…"

Sai treated them to one of his stretched fake smiles, before proceeding to give his report to the room full of hunters, some of the last remaining members of the tenmakashi fold, mobilised by the recent resurgence of demonic activity.

As Sai went on, his expression didn't falter for an instant.

* * *

Despite the late hour, cars buzzed by on the street below, headlights flashing under the street light, whizzing past and casting shadows through the shuttered blinds.

None of the lamps were on, and the entire apartment was cast in a grey light, causing everything to loom out of the darkness to cast towering shadows, and the air to feel heavy.

It was a cold, barren place.

The door opened with little fanfare, not even a squeak of its hinges, and Sasuke slipped inside wordlessly, dropping his overflowing bag by the wall, uncaring to the contents that threatened to spill.

"Tadiama," he whispered to the room at large.

And as always, there was no reply, just empty, ringing silence.

He sometimes wondered why he bothered at all.

For though familiar it may be, it still left an odd hollowness in his chest that despite how many years that had passed, still lingered relentlessly.

The fact that there was no one left to greet him home, it seemed, would always jar the melancholy into him.

He sighed lightly, feeling a weight of strain particularly between his shoulder blades. The muscles there almost burned.

He toed off his shoes silently, eyes unfocused as he stared at the bland, colourless floorboards.

How long had it been, since that _incident?_ Eight years, ten? What good would counting do anyway?

The subject didn't bring the searing anguish of days gone by, when the wound was still as fresh as newly fallen snow. Now, when he thought of it, he simply became numb and hollow, a shell of nothingness.

He wondered, absently, if this should worry him, or if it was indeed the process Kakashi referred to as 'moving on'.

Though, Sasuke didn't think he could ever do what Kakashi always insisted upon.

It was, after all, unforgettable, a brand on his mind.

He stepped lightly down the hallway, his feet making the softest of pads against the wood. He didn't bother to turn a light on, feeling the blue-grey light a morose comfort- and the light switch too far away to bother with in the first place.

He halted abruptly as he reached where the wall gave way to the living room. Though, it was poorly named in his opinion- he never spent any time here, let alone 'lived' there- most of his time was spent in his office, only retreating to his bedroom for sleep.

It was a cold use of the large space presented to him, but he had little care or need for anything else.

He watched with blank eyes as thin beams of light swept across the room through the blinded windows, letting them slid over his face without a single twitch.

It had been a long day...but hardly terrible.

After all, he'd been able to indulge in some rather wonderful opportunities. Who knew that Naruto would be so… agreeable?

He'd anticipated more than a little resistance from the blond- he had been so skittish when it came to touches and affection, not to mention that so far he'd struggled against him over everything, why should now be any different?

However, Sasuke couldn't deny that he was more than glad Naruto appeared just as eager as him to _explore_ their budding relationship.

Sasuke felt a true, satisfied smirk spread over his face, black eyes lighting with a new, tentative life.

Naruto was so very energetic, in all he did; he could vividly recall the way the blond had pressed so tightly against him, happily meeting him thrust for thrust, building that delightful, newly discovered pressure that stole their breath and blinkered their eyes.

The heady scent of Naruto's lust still lingered in his nose, he was sure of it. He took a tentative sniff, gladly recalling the panted gasps of his name, falling from flushed pink lips, darkened eyes that stared at him with such devotion, tan skin burning bright against his own.

Sasuke was pulled from his thoughts as he felt a sudden twitch from below. He started, and promptly turned his head away, aware that the slightest of blushes probably adorned his face right now. His breath sounded a little heavier as well.

How embarrassing.

To be standing in the doorway to his empty living room, in the dark and having perverted thoughts.

Thank god Kakashi wasn't here.

How was it that just thinking about the blond could elicit such a reaction?

His hand found the doorframe, fingers digging into the grooves and through the paint.

He'd never had any sort of these problems before, but after he met Naruto, even his _normal_ behaviour had been completely thrown out of whack.

And all over the idiot too.

Really, what did that make him, he thought as he ran his other hand over his face, bent over in exasperation. He stared mindlessly at his feet for a few moments, the useless notion that the floor was cold briefly attempting to sidetrack him.

However, he couldn't deny his feelings, which were becoming increasingly obsessed over a certain blond fox.

He closed his eyes in consternation.

He'd soon decided, after he'd realised the depth of his…sentiments for Naruto, that the boy would unquestionably become his. Sasuke, if anything, was a man of action, and when he had his target in sight, nothing would halt him in his goal, as Kakashi had found to his cost, earlier in life. And as one of the last of the noble Uchiha lineage, it was a given that he'd find a way to get what he wanted.

So far, Naruto had participated wonderfully, with little cajoling. The blond seemed to share the same attraction, his blue eyes shimmering with sincerity whenever they looked at him. The very thought of Naruto with anyone else sent bolts of hot rage flowing under his skin- even now the mere thought of Gaara touching _his _mate made his entire body twitch with the desire to slaughter several things, preferably including the tanuki youkai. At least, however, Naruto showed no sign of any interest in Gaara. In fact, Sasuke was more than sure that the blond only had _him_ on his mind.

Oh yes, he thought possessively, Naruto wasn't going anywhere, unless it was below him. He could wriggle and writhe as much as he wanted, but he wouldn't let him escape. From the moment Sasuke kissed him, Naruto was his. And, much to his satisfaction, Naruto appeared quite happy with the arrangement. And really, why shouldn't he be?

All in all, there should be nothing in their way.

His death grip on the doorframe softened, leaving scratches in the white paint, raw wood peaking out. Sasuke took no notice as he straightened himself out, brow still furrowed.

Though, he thought frowning, Iruka may be a problem- the stubborn man. But, in the end, he was satisfied with the fact that there was nothing the human could do. Naruto could make his own decisions.

And Sasuke wouldn't lie, and say he wasn't proud that Naruto's decision, thank you very much, was himself.

"Hn…"

The noise was practically lost in what could only be a purr, one that vibrated through the still air, sounding even above the cars and noise of the street below.

Subconsciously, Sasuke moved the last few steps to an unused and neglected sofa, seating himself without any thought and sinking slightly into the cushions. A beam of light fell over his face through the window but his eyes didn't even flicker, and it quickly slid off his figure to dart over the glass coffee table and then away.

However, it still wasn't enough; he could feel it, deep within his very soul. A demonic soul, that while unsatiated, made him feel uncomfortable in his very own skin, inciting the feel of being thin and stretched, muscles pulled and limbs heavy. And while it wasn't an actual physical affliction, it certainly caused enough restlessness and unease to shift him in his seat at the very thought.

He absently wondered if Naruto felt the pull too, but quickly waved the thought aside- it was unlikely. Even now, he could feel a growl build in the back of his throat, his grip tightening substantially on the sofa arm, threatening to rip the fabric.

It'd been harder than he would like to admit to let Naruto go that afternoon, to let him leave and go on home to _somebody else_, no matter that the man was a parental figure, and human to boot. Naruto shouldn't be living with someone else, sleeping in another's house, when he could provide all of that and more himself. They may not be mated yet, but they were as good as! Naruto should be with him, he was his responsibility!

He startled himself with the snarl that tore itself from his throat, a volume and ferocity he didn't think he could possibly reach, it being more identifiable with an angered lion than with a human being.

He instantly snapped his mouth shut, as if that would undo it. He shouldn't have lost so much control over himself. He gripped his fists tightly, and stared pointedly at the floor, breathing heavily.

If these irrational urges and thoughts weren't bad enough, paranoia preyed on his mind as well, thoughts of Gaara showing his face, or even one of his fellow classmates and simply stealing the blond away.

It was ridiculous.

And it was slowly driving him mad, as he was forced to concentrate on other, 'more important' matters; the koumajutsu had recently run its course, but it was just the start, everything from here on out was about to erupt into chaos. He had important decisions to make, vital preparations to oversee.

And all he currently wanted to do was have Naruto where he belonged; by his side, covered with his scent and in his bed.

He clenched his jaw in frustration but didn't halt his flow of thoughts.

That night, nearly a week ago now, when Naruto had slept beside him, watching over him in his injured state, had soothed him like no other. Even now, he refused to let the sheets be washed, as they still held a light lingering scent of _Naruto_. It was weak, he scolded himself, but his voice of reason was easily snuffed out by his other side these days.

He was, already, nearly an adult youkai, even though it could be technically argued that he wasn't yet 'full grown' as demons naturally took longer to age. However, that didn't stop his body from urging him on to simply mate with the fox already, have him so he could bite and smother, protect and claim. And his pants twitched in agreement.

"Tch," he uttered, intensely irritated.

It was a primal urge, but one that he knew would be insurmountable to shake. Kakashi had warned him long ago, and often, about the compulsions of youkai instincts, which, like all such things, were strongest around those of mates and mating. He'd thought he'd been prepared sufficiently, but much to his shame they had still caught him unprepared and out of balance. But then again, who could have possibly predicted Naruto's sudden presence in his life?

Sasuke sighed, the exhale spending its irritation on the still air of the dull room. His head flopped back against the cushions, black hair splaying over the light fabric in inky rivers.

Of course, no matter what his deepest desires were, it was unlikely he would be able to carry them out-for now at least. For Naruto, despite his eagerness, was simply not quite _ready_ yet. Sasuke couldn't quite fathom how he seemed to intrinsically know and accept this fact, or even what it really _meant_, but there it was. And it was this knowledge that kept him from trapping the blond fox beneath him and having his way with him on sight.

As, he stubbornly reminded himself, Naruto was perfectly capable of resisting such advances- violently if need be. He was a youkai as well, and could, when it came down to it, look after himself just as well as Sasuke could. No matter that it made a part of him somewhere deep down grumble.

And Sasuke wasn't entirely sure he wanted to risk it; the power of a nine-tailed fox would probably be worse than a few scratches and nips. He would probably be even more goddamn vicious than Gaara.

This didn't mean it wasn't frustrating however, and indeed, frustrated he was.

He stared broodingly at nothing, eyes filmed over to the thoughts in his head. Time ticked slowly by, his head filled with stewing thoughts that milled about however they pleased. He leant forward into his knees, intent clear in his posture as he brought his hands to rest together in front of his face.

He'd have to be patient as he courted his delightful mate-to-be. There was no doubt of Naruto's intentions on the matter, so no need to rush. The fox wouldn't be going anywhere, he would make sure of it.

And, he mused gently, for Naruto a little time would be more than worth it; despite how he tried to avoid it, even in his own head sometimes, he was well aware that not only had he fallen in love with him, he still hadn't managed to get out of the freefall.

The blond just made it so sickeningly easy to make him adore every little thing about him; even the things that pissed him off were eliciting a fondness for him. There was simply no way out of it.

He found that he didn't mind too much, just this once.

He glanced fleetingly towards his bedroom door.

And just maybe, it would mean that one day there would be someone to greet him home again.

…

His face shut off with the thought, and Sasuke blinked at finding himself actually seated in his living room. His brow wrinkled in bemusement as he promptly stood, eyes flickering over the room as if it were a bizarre aberration come to startle him.

He walked with even steps out the room, pausing just once more by the doorjamb, before shaking the strange sensation like old cobwebs from his mind.

He spent the rest of the night in his office.

* * *

Lunch at Shichiyou was a colourful affair. It was the time when friends could come together and settle down for a good long chat, gossip interchanging at the speed of light as seemingly random paper balls and airplanes drifted overhead.

In such a large school, break was far too impossibly short to find others that were not classmates, so lunchtime had become the unofficial information exchange for the entire student population.

Yesterday had been hell for Naruto, as all had stopped to watch him pass and tried to listen in on his conversation with his friends, eager for any tiny morsel about him, Sasuke or Gaara. He'd given them nothing however, and so far today he'd only been treated to the odd disappointed look for his previous silence.

So as the blond headed to the cafeteria he did not expect to be subjected to the terrifying experience of being the lunchtime flavour of the day.

He was to be unpleasantly surprised when upon finding their table, he immediately saw Sakura flung out across her tray, hair haphazard, right before everyone stopped to stare at him with large, unyielding eyes.

Naruto felt his stomach settle somewhere near his knees.

_What now?_

Frozen, he stared at them, and they stared back.

He felt some sweat trickle down his brow as his nerves tingled. Mouth dry he swallowed awkwardly, gripping his fists together tightly.

Naruto desperately wanted to demand what the hell was wrong, but the question was left on the tip of his tongue as Sakura darted her head up at his approach, showing that her mascara was running- _badly, _and that her red-rimmed eyes made her appear more than a little crazed. Ino, next to her, didn't look her usual self either- more like she'd been hit with something heavy in the face and hadn't gotten over the shock yet.

"You?!" yowled Sakura, kneeling up on her chair, pointing an accusing finger at his chest.

At a complete loss, and feeling numb, as if he couldn't feel the red hot stares boring into his back, Naruto said the first thing in his head.

"Me?"

He blinked in synchrony, his thoughts empty and hollow- he had absolutely no idea why she was staring at him with such venom.

And apparently, this was the wrong thing to say, as Sakura merely looked more incensed.

"Yes, _you! _Don't try to act all innocent with me!"

Her emerald eyes glowed with a righteous fire, and Naruto felt a shiver pass down his spine as she glared pure death at him. It almost made him feel like a trapped rat in a cage, and he looked about him wildly, in an attempt to seek assistance, only to find Kiba sizing him up through squinted eyes and the others apparently overcome with a mute button. He swallowed thickly again, trying to calm his sudden bout of panic.

Surely this must be some sort of misunderstanding? He hadn't done anything to her.

He wracked his brains furiously, but was coming up blank.

He took one more look at Sakura, who was wheezing like an enraged bull and quickly decided that whatever he'd done wasn't worth losing his short life over, and the survival instincts kicked in, the adrenalin sending a head rush to his brain, moving his limbs into action.

However, he'd barely managed two steps in the opposite direction when he felt his collar being tugged and he was pulled down and trapped by Kiba's strong arm. Feeling mildly strangulated, he shot a glare to the other boy, who merely grinned. He squirmed to try to escape, but Kiba was surprisingly strong, and he couldn't get loose.

He immediately stiffened, however, when the aura of a vulture over his head out to get him washed over him like a sudden chill.

The table suddenly shook, upturning glasses and spilling water everywhere.

He jumped, frazzled.

Oh shit.

Sakura had slammed her fists on the table, and looked on the verge of tears- or mass homicide. It was, by and large, the most terrifying sight he'd ever seen and he attempted to sink as low in his chair as possible, mentally considering how to use Kiba as a human shield if necessary. He felt completely lost; Sakura was obviously mad at him for something, and he couldn't remember what?! Was he just simply that annoying that she couldn't stand his presence anymore?

The thought saddened him; Sakura could be a bit creepy around Sasuke, but she was really nice and a good friend. He didn't want to suddenly lose her over something he didn't know about!

"I can't believe you! Just sitting there as if nothing's wrong!"

Naruto quailed under her anger, feeling very small, like a mouse about to be stepped on. There was an almost sadistic gleam in her eyes that made his stomach roll.

"Eh, er…" he glanced about frantically, but no help was forthcoming. Hinata was blushing like she'd been shown a collection of nude photos, while Neji was merely smirking despite the fact that water had completely soaked his tray. Even Shikamaru was peering at him intently while Kiba grinned a mouthful of sharp teeth at him.

He squirmed uncomfortably under their stares and cleared his throat nervously.

"Ah, what's…what's the matter with you guys huh? And what's with all the weirdo looks?!…"

His voice sounded feeble, even to himself as he swallowed audibly. He didn't have a clue what was going on…

Kiba let a lecherous smirk adorn his face, as Sakura twitched with rage in front of him.

"You don't know?" Kiba asked deviously.

Naruto mutely shook his head, bewildered. He couldn't remember doing anything wrong, or anything to Sakura that would make her _this_ mad…They couldn't be mad about him not saying anything about Gaara could they? After all, they were just fine with it yesterday!

"Well," he said, sounding oddly delighted to explain, "Sakura and Ino saw something very - _interesting_ yesterday."

"Huh?" Naruto tilted his head in confusion, more lost than ever. Really, Kiba might as well have been speaking Swahili for all he knew. Though, he could clearly hear that Kiba was silently laughing at him, but for what, he had no idea. He grit his teeth in frustration. This so wasn't what he wanted right now- he hated it when people laughed at him.

Stupid fucking mutt.

Kiba's smirk widened even further.

"Well, according to them," he paused imperiously, before rushing on, "you and Sasuke were getting the dirty on in the tech corridor- you didn't tell me you and the bastard were having an affair!"

…

…

Oh…fuckness.

Naruto could actually _feel _all the blood rush to his face, blotching him the shade of a tomato, before he proceeded to pale to a sickly white as he felt the killing intent saunter over the table towards him, leaking from almost every girl in the vicinity who had been eavesdropping on the conversation.

Inside, his mind exploded into a pandemonium of panic- where was that blasted hole in the floor to crawl into when you needed it damnit!

Outside, he spluttered senselessly as Kiba began howling with laughter.

Heh, hum, ah, shit! They _saw?!_ He blushed bright red again at merely the thought. The poor blond glanced frantically about, eyes darting towards all the nearest exits. He tried to get up, but Kiba once again maintained an iron grip on his arm, preventing his daring escape. He continued to panic as he saw Sakura's hands crack ominously as they gripped the table, and stuttered out the first thing his mouth came up with.

"I-its not an affair!"

Pandemonium ensued.

Kiba almost asphyxiated with laughter.

"Oh man, you're so dead!" he barely managed to call out amid the screeching cries of the surrounding teenage girls.

"What do you mean, its not an affair, you can't mean you're- that you're in a _relationship!"_

Sakura wailed to the high heavens, several girls joining her in an eerie chorus.

"Eh, well you see, that is-"

He cried out frantically, waving his hands placatingly.

"_Sasuke-kuuuuuun!_ It's not fair, why would you want a stupid blond?!"

"I can be blond, I can be blond!"

"Him! He's the one that stole Sasuke-kun away!"

Naruto gave up trying to say anything and instead sunk as low as possible in his seat, his forehead just visible, and coloured a bright pink. He had never felt so completely and utterly mortified in his entire life, bar none. This meant that- that Sakura and Ino had seen! Had seen him and Sasuke do…do _that! _And now obviously wanted to kill him for it. Shame suffused him in a haze, feeling a strange, misplaced guilt coil unpleasantly in his stomach. He didn't know that Sakura was so serious about liking Sasuke. Yeah, he could understand that Sasuke was quite attractive (_oh yes he was- _a small voiced purred from the back of his mind) but Sasuke had never shown any interest in any of these girls! It wasn't his fault!

He looked bout him uselessly, seeing danger in every turn. He groaned inwardly.

Where was Sasuke with all this?! That bastard, leaving him alone to deal with this! Where the hell was he anyways?!

Naruto whimpered as the undeniable scent of danger wafted around the air like tinder sparks. And Kiba's crude, _helpful_ comments were not helping in the slightest. He attempted to sink so far down in his chair that he could attempt to wriggle free and escape under the table.

However, this genius plan was foiled when he was suddenly wrenched by his shirt by an incensed, weeping Sakura. She shook him in time with her ranting demands.

"How dare you do this to Sasuke-kun, you never got along before, he's mine! What's wrong with you, what's wrong with _me?!"_

Naruto could barely breath under her assault, let alone answer her, not that he would anyways- it was clear that she'd completely lost it. It was more than a little frightening but right now he couldn't breath, and it was making his lungs burn. He flailed futilely against her impossibly strong grip. He dimly heard a sigh from far off.

"Put him down woman, he's gonna die if you keep that up."

He was instantly dropped unceremoniously back in his seat, accompanied by another set of sniffs from Sakura. Once his circulation returned, he glanced over to see her with her head buried in her folded arms as a dazed Ino absentmindedly rubbed her back.

"There-there…."

Naruto slumped in his seat, gasping for breath. Shit, that girl was freakishly strong! What was she on, steroids?! He glanced at her, alarmed in case she decided to attack him again. He could only feel a small amount of relief she hadn't tried to hit him.

"So," Kiba interjected slyly after a while of poignant silence, startling him, "how's Sasuke in the sack? Bit of a letdown I'm sure…"

"Kiba!" he yelled out, scandalised as he covered his red face in his hands.

"Like I know that!" He half wished he could actually die from embarrassment. What did he do to deserve this? Yes, he'd done some naughty things with Sasuke, but they'd felt _so good. _And he knew Iruka didn't approve, but Iruka was a spoilsport over everything, even ramen. But even with breaking a few rules, it certainly wasn't worth this!

This was, undeniably, a nightmare. And Sasuke wasn't even here to share the rap- there was no justice.

Kiba appeared deeply disappointed.

"Aw man, you mean you two haven't even had sex yet? You're no fun…"

"People often have a different definition of the word 'fun' then you do, Inuzuka."

Naruto blinked. He hadn't really heard Neji speak in quite a long time. And not often to Kiba either. He tentatively pulled his hands away from his ears, surprised.

Kiba huffed in response, but returned to his role as 'interrogator number one'.

"So, you haven't gone that far, so what _is_ going on between you two anyways?"

Naruto fidgeted in his seat, pointedly avoiding anyone's eyes as he muttered lowly.

"What does it matter anyway? Just…stuff."

Why were they all so nosy anyway?

"Heh, seems a lot more than just 'stuff' to me, if Ino was telling the truth."

The blond glanced furtively towards Ino, who's turquoise eyes were looking more blank and vacant than usual. He gave a mental apology to the girl, hoping that his and Sasuke's _activities _hadn't broken her. God forbid he walk in on someone doing what they had been doing. Looking back, it was a pretty reckless thing to do, they could have been seen by anybody, and sure enough, they _had. _

Though, he couldn't but think, as he recalled the wonderful sensations that had been coaxed out, and the imprint Sasuke had left on his lips, that it was still worth it. Oh yeah, he thought dreamily, definitely.

"Oh look," came a bland voice he was really starting to loath, "he's thinking about it."

His eyes snapped open- when had he closed them?- to stare incredulously at the boy who had seemingly just _appeared _from out of nowhere.

"You!" he screeched.

"Me," answered Sai with a small smile stuck to his face.

The blonde's mouth worked fruitlessly, but snapped shut upon finding nothing more to say. He hadn't seen Sai at all since last week, and it occurred to him as strange that the strange boy was here- he didn't remember any of them being friends. Just classmates.

"Well, I think its pretty obvious blondie here has snagged Sasuke all for himself. Can't imagine what you see in a guy like that but" Kiba shrugged, leaning back in his chair and not sounding mocking for once, "whatever. Your choice."

His voice clearly thought that it was a rubbish one, but Naruto couldn't care less about that. For it sounded almost as if Kiba didn't care about his relation with Sasuke, looking around, it seemed as if most of his friends didn't really care too much about it either. At least, not about the fact that it was two _men_ together anyway. A small warmth filled his heart and he began to feel hopeful.

He'd imagined that he and Sasuke would have to keep their growing relationship a secret. After all, Sasuke was so popular, surely he wouldn't want to be seen going out with another boy? And even if he didn't mind, surely others would. Heck, his many female admirers would become incensed if _anyone _went out with him, let alone a weird blond boy from the countryside. As demonstrated by the previous display of almost the entire female population of Shichiyou.

And now, seeing as the cat was out the bag already, there was no excuse for Sasuke and him not to be together in public either, especially as his friends, that one's who mattered, seemed accepting. His heart swelled just a bit more.

Acceptance. How long had he craved for that in his life?

He stared at the waterlogged table, hair flopping into his eyes and smiled shyly, the act hidden from prying eyes.

He couldn't pinpoint how happy this made him, apart from the fact that it did. So much.

Then again, as his thoughts were punctured by a distressed cry, he still had to get through Sakura and Ino.

Sakura was still beside herself in woe, and had turned to babbling, much like a drunk. Ino was her silent companion.

"I mean," she started loosely, "I just don't understand…Sasuke-kun hasn't ever been interested in _anyone. _And I've liked him- for ever and ever!"

She sniffed, and gave a hiccup. Ino patted her head.

"And then, he goes off with Naruto, and didn't- and didn't," tears fell down her pretty face in rivulets once more as her voice began to crack, "and didn't even tell me-eeeeeee!"

Naruto blinked at the girl in mourning. For the life of him, he couldn't understand- why would Sasuke have to tell her? They barely talked- or at least, Sasuke barely ever talked _back. _

Sakura whimpered on.

"I just- what does _he _have that I don't?!"

She gave her demand to the tiled ceiling above her, but far from a divine answer of justice, it was Sai who gladly offered her an explanation.

"It is because, you lack penis," he said solemnly, for once exchanging his fake smile for a look of condolence. As for Sakura, you might have well have slapped her with a dead fish.

She turned her misty gaze to Naruto, green eyes searching him desperately for a moment before she broke out into sobs again. The blond could do nothing but watch her silently, bemused.

"Its not fair! Why am I a girl? And since when was Sasuke-kun gay?! He didn't tell me that eeitheeerrr!"

At this point, Naruto made the wise decision that he simply didn't understand girls at all, and was therefore very thankful that he had a boyfriend instead. Who- though not one for long, in depth conversations- could at least be partially understood.

Sakura was just on a world of her very own, with Ino popping round for a visit.

It was the only explanation.

He absently wondered, calming slightly as everything seemed to settle down around him, if any number of napkins would get the table dry again.

It was then, that the entire surroundings fell silent once more, as if death itself walked in. Turning just enough in his seat, Naruto could only smile weakly as he saw Sasuke stare bemused, as he was placed at the centre point of everyone's attention.

The spell hung delicately for a moment, but was broken as Kiba burst into laughter again; tears beginning to prick his eyes, but also loosening his grip on Naruto.

"Hey, hey, Sasuke! Didn't think you had it in you! I mean, when did you defrost your balls long enough to get a boyfriend-!"

It was clear that the wild boy wanted to say more, but was cut off when Naruto, hissing somewhat, elbowed him forcibly in the ribs, causing him to fall to the floor, clutching his stomach, caught between painful laughter and just pain.

Sasuke blinked.

Naruto laughed nervously, "Ignore him! Just come and sit!"

"Sasuke-kun" yelled Sakura as she discovered the object of her affections, "Tell me it's not true! I mean, you're not gaaaay, are you Sasuke-kun! It was an accident!"

Sasuke stared at her a moment, before he passed over a strained, smiling Naruto in favour of Neji.

"What the fuck is she talking about?"

Neji merely shrugged at the cold words.

"You know how crushes are."

Sasuke grunted in response, and without a single word more shunted them down to seat himself next to Naruto, and, as if it were as natural as breathing, slipped his arm around the blonde's waist.

The Uchiha didn't pay an iota of attention as Naruto flushed crimson, or as Kiba called out something lewd from near the floor.

Just another day really, as Sakura vainly tried to wipe her running mascara from her face, Ino dryly trying to fix her hair.

Naruto sighed deeply inside and, uncaring to what anyone else thought, let himself settle against Sasuke's side, his eyes slipping closed as he buried his nose in the other's shirt. He inhaled lightly, relishing the strong musky scent and let everything else simply wash past him.

Whatever.

He didn't even notice the flickering glances of warning that the Uchiha sent towards someone else.

* * *

**A/N: Well, how was that? I was actually going to have a couple more scenes here, but i decided that it would be cruel to make you wait _longer _when this chapter was already long enough. So, i guess even more people are gonna hate Sai...But aw well. And despite what you might think, the plot is moving along- so many things to get done, so little time. You may also be glad to know that one of my other stories is nearly finished- which means i'll only be writing 3 stories at a time- yes that is the reason for my longer times between updates recently.**

**So, hope you enjoyed the chapter, drop me a review if you like, and i should be updating soon, ja!**


	21. Papers

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

**A/N: Yes, i'm aware that its been..forever. I'm afraid i've just had quite a few interuptions. And then the holidays, and no computer time. Its been a trying time for all of us. However the next chapter is here, and i hope you enjoy it, even if it is...more than a little late. Next one shouldn't be. And thankyou all for your reviews, hope to see some more, and a happy belated new year to you all as well!**

Warnings: Yaoi, of the lime-y variety. Hope you enjoy!

* * *

**Papers**

The early summer sun glinted off the tinted windows, and bounced off the glass of tall, steely looking buildings that towered up to the sky. The roads, though of several lanes, appeared far narrower, almost claustrophobic in the heavily built up area, with both metal and people equally thronging the streets.

Naruto watched with glassy blue eyes out through the darkened car window, a hand lazily propping up his chin as he tried not to fiddle with his school uniform.

He sighed lightly, the noise barely audible as he shifted, uncomfortably, on the plush, soft leather seats.

He'd never been in a room this fancy, let alone a car.

The noise, however slight, was enough to have Sasuke, seated opposite, shoot him a look of question. Instead of a vocal response, he merely received another, more weary sigh and nothing more.

The flash of irritation that swept over the Uchiha's face was completely ignored by his partner.

Naruto bit his lip and kept his vigil out the car window, past the tinted panes.

He'd been unnaturally silent ever since he got in the vehicle, after being forcibly shepherded by a surprisingly obstinate Sasuke towards the expensive car after school, with a cool "Iruka already knows," and no more for explanation.

He'd felt uncomfortable the moment he sat down, and the door was swung shut with a heavy swish and a thud.

It wasn't that he was _that _put off by the obvious wealth that Sasuke had; he'd already known that Sasuke was one of those bastardly rich people. No, it wasn't really that, though it was enough to make him squirm, self conscious of his dirtied uniform.

It was just that he was finally alone with Sasuke, finally after what seemed like years, and he had no idea what to say. Until now, whenever they were alone, they sorta had their mouths occupied on other things, and now they sat opposite each other, totally silent, after the day their relationship was outed.

They'd both been harried the rest of the day by the school's populace, but Sasuke hadn't said anything at all, apart from grunting his displeasure at all the noise, and maintaining an iron grip on the blond wherever possible.

And, as Naruto flicked a fleeting glance to the dark haired boy opposite, he couldn't help but wonder what he thought about their strange relationship. They hadn't really talked about it; he wasn't even aware if Sasuke had initially wanted to hide it, though any thought of that was now thoroughly sunk.

Certainly, they'd done a lot kissing, compared to the small amount of time they'd managed to find between school, Iruka and Kakashi, but Naruto couldn't help but feel a bit uneasy about where he, _they_ stood.

It was nice, but it would be nicer if Sasuke would actually say something about it.

Like now, they sat in absolute silence, and Naruto, for once, couldn't come up with a single thing to say.

It didn't even occur to him to ask where they were going.

As a result, the ride was long, and felt clumsily awkward, sensations that Naruto didn't particularly like much and made his nose wrinkle.

As the car finally pulled to a halt, he had to try hard to restrain his sigh of relief.

And as he clambered out, he was met with a vaguely familiar tall building, and he blinked in innocent confusion.

His brows furrowed, as he tried to place the tall, sleek skyscraper, the well-paved paths, and the ritzy surroundings. Apart from the vague notion of rain, he came up blank.

"Come on, dobe."

Naruto started in surprise at Sasuke's smooth voice and as a strong hand came up to take a firm hold on his arm.

He remained oddly mute as he was dragged inside the building, taking a moment to marvel at the shiny marble floor he could see himself in, before he was shoved into the contents of an elevator.

Sasuke said not another word as they steadily began to climb, and Naruto experienced the dawning realisation of where he recognised the lift buttons.

"Eh? We're going to your place?" he asked dumbly.

In reply, all Sasuke did was look at him and sigh.

Naruto scrunched his nose as they hit the penthouse floor.

In the light of day, Naruto conceded, and given time to look over it properly, Sasuke's apartment was really rather nice. Lots of rooms, and open, wide and spacey. It was nice, if not a little cold, with no decoration, and very…utilitarian. Nothing like Iruka's warm and cosy, if not a little small, flat.

He rocked on his heels, peering into the doorway of the living room as he heard Sasuke pad up behind him. He spared the other boy a look, becoming faintly annoyed with his complete and utter lack of communication. He still hadn't said anything at all.

But all Sasuke did was motion for him to follow, and the blond was led to what could only be described as a study. Naruto blinked rapidly as he peered in, surprised, but pleasantly so, to see it actually appear somewhat lived in.

The large, sprawling desk was littered with papers, pens, marks and other such things, while a plush carpet ran lushly underfoot. The leather chair had worn lines, showing age and use, and the panelled walls looked much warmer than the rest of the house.

There were even a picture or two on one of the many overflowing back shelves.

Naruto ignored Sasuke's rummaging as he inspected one of his desk draws, and moved closer, eager to see some of the Uchiha's personality peek through the barren landscape.

There were only two photographs, Naruto dimly realised, one which looked as if it had been stuck their without the owner's consent, and, considering it was a photo of a certain leering pervert and a distinctly cold looking younger Sasuke, the culprit was most likely Kakashi himself.

The other however, was framed, if not more than a little dusty, as if it had been shoved without much care or thought, and then forgotten.

The faded image, colours muted, could still be seen however, and Naruto felt his breath hitch as he realised whom these people must be.

There were four, a man, a woman, and two boys. The youngest, no older than seven most likely, was obviously Sasuke, and Naruto was hit with a momentary pang- Sasuke had been a cute child, especially when he wasn't scowling. The man looked severe, while the mother demure, but the likeness made them undoubtedly Sasuke's parents. His eye's slid to the last figure, who appeared a good few years older than Sasuke, though the relation was not hard to guess.

It made Naruto feel uncomfortable again, and he resisted the urge to turn around and stare at the Uchiha. He'd never thought about Sasuke's family before, or why his only visible guardian was Kakashi. As an orphan himself, it was easy to forget about that otherwise unforgettable notion of parents. For, of course, they all had to come from _somewhere_, including both himself and Sasuke. But he'd never thought to ask about Sasuke's family. The only thing he knew from Kakashi was that they were one of the clans that had demon blood in them.

He felt something uneasy crawl in his gut; he really didn't know anything about Sasuke at all, did he? Sasuke knew all about him, and his past, but he knew nothing about the other. Not really.

Maybe that was why he still felt a little excluded from Sasuke…

"I didn't know you had a brother," he remarked agreeably, out into the still air. He barely noticed as that very same air suddenly became heavy and cloying.

There was no reply, and Naruto turned around to see Sasuke, frozen where he stood. His throat tightened as he realised, upon spying the dark, shadowed look take over Sasuke's face, that that was a question that probably should have gone unasked.

However, it was out there, hanging between them, and oddly enough symbolising quite a lot. Naruto refused to show any regret, and instead kept a steady, brazen look at the dark haired boy.

Sasuke finally slid his eyes slowly to where Naruto was standing; straightening in the process as his gaze fell onto the ominous photograph that still adorned the shelf.

"I really should get rid of that; past memories that no longer matter…"

His voice was hollow and detached, and Naruto shivered under it as it grazed his skin.

Sasuke sighed, as the anger drifted out of him, leaving a weary, defeated boy behind it. Sasuke glanced once at Naruto, contemplative, and after several heavy moments, parted his lips.

"I don't like talking about my family, but I suppose you ought to know…" he mused, still in that voice of no feeling.

Naruto remained quiet.

Sasuke ran a hand impatiently through his raven locks, and then turned his gaze to the ceiling as he leant back against his desk.

"We were an old and ancient clan, and were proud of our heritage; we were pretty famous for it in fact, in the underworld of knowledge. But," he continued bitterly, "that was what made it so easy."

Naruto swallowed thickly, not sure he wanted to hear anymore, seeing the dark glint in Sasuke's eyes. It was bitter and angry, and twisted his normally handsome face.

Naruto felt a shiver of foreboding run through him.

"Hunters, tenmakashi…they didn't just go away, they've been around for generations and generations, still preaching the same shit," Sasuke growled out through gritted teeth.

"And still crusading for the destruction of anything youkai, didn't matter if they were human or not- it certainly didn't matter when they crept in during the night, to slaughter every single one of the Uchiha clan."

Naruto sucked in a breath of despair, eyes widening as Sasuke lapsed into a brooding silence. Surely…surely not. Those hunters were just from the stories of old that Kakashi had spoken of. Not today, and surely they wouldn't, _couldn't _kill just for the sake of some old, watered down blood?

But the hidden, bitter pain in Sasuke's eyes didn't lie.

Naruto felt nausea claw up his throat, his tongue suddenly too big for his mouth, making him want to choke on it, chest constricting.

He said nothing.

Sasuke peered blankly at his reaction, before speaking once more, his voice with all the inflection of a doll.

"I don't remember much of the details, but I do remember the way the streets ran _red_…Red with my family's blood…"

Naruto watched, alarmed, as Sasuke clenched clawed fists, eyes spinning into a red just as vivid as the one he described, teeth gritted hard enough to make fangs. A snarl tore itself from his throat, a chilling sound enough to make Naruto back off a step.

"And then- Itachi, he-…he could have _**done something!"**_

Naruto jumped, eyes full of startlement as Sasuke suddenly lost it, slamming an arm through a chair and sending the wood flying in a shower of lethal splinters.

"He was fucking strong, wasn't he?! Genius Itachi! _And what did he do?"_

Naruto watched with startled eyes as Sasuke whirled round on him, glaring holes into his head with swirling red eyes; demon eyes. The blond dimly tried to cease the tremors making his hands shake.

"_**Not a god damn thing!!"**_

Naruto gave a small cry of shock and distress, as Sasuke lashed out with a fist, slamming it right through the panelled wall, not a foot from his head. He couldn't help but stare, stupefied at the trembling figure before him, Sasuke's anger and rage palpable in the air, making it sway with a killer intent.

"But he didn't," Sasuke whispered, a broken, small sound as the room settled, not moving his outstretched arm.

"He made another choice…"

Naruto watched, heart beating furiously, as Sasuke closed his eyes with final, melancholy words. He seemed to deflate, sagging under the weight of uncountable, invisible burdens, and he slowly retreated from his position to wander away a few steps. Naruto watched as he sunk to the floor, his entire expression back to its marionette appearance, the air settling oddly around them.

Guilt suffused him, and Naruto almost regretted asking.

Almost.

Instead, he swallowed down the unsavoury emotions and walked tentatively forward, ignoring how he stepped on bits of splinters and upset papers, and his still racing heartbeat. For a moment there, he had really thought that Sasuke was going to hit him.

He gulped nervously, but didn't hesitate as he went to put a hand on the silent, bent figure of Sasuke. Gathering strength when the hand wasn't shrugged off, he came to squat down next to him, fixing him with an honest blue gaze, before darting it away, self-conscious.

"Sorry," he mumbled, "I didn't mean to upset you."

Sasuke kept his eyes averted, and for a moment he thought the other boy hadn't heard him, but then he was roughly tugged towards the youkai, and before he knew it, he could hear Sasuke's slowly calming heart beat as he lay, pinned, against his chest.

The arms about him were tight, and Naruto fancied that this was pretty damn close to a hug. As far as Sasuke could get at the moment anyway. And so, he gently brought his hand up to brush against the pale, enthralling skin of Sasuke's cheek, smiling a little as the boy started at his touch.

It took more than a few minutes of petting for Sasuke to speak, this time sounding almost apologetic.

Almost.

"It's alright, I shouldn't have gotten angry; it was a long time ago- I've moved on."

"No," said Naruto, causing Sasuke to blink in bewilderment, "I don't think you have."

The blond suddenly smiled brightly, the blinding one that made Sasuke's stomach flutter.

"But that's alright," he exclaimed, patting Sasuke on the cheek, "I'll be here, so you won't be lonely- and then in time maybe you'll accept it. _Maybe_."

Sasuke stared incredulously at the slanted eyes, which were squinting calculating at him, and felt his mood inexorably lift as he was suddenly overcome with the urge to laugh.

Naruto was…

Naruto was…

"Unbelievable."

Naruto cocked his head, "Eh? What was that?"

Sasuke shook his head.

"Nothing."

Naruto treated him to a blue look of disbelief, but was thankfully distracted as Sasuke pulled him closer and up, so the blond was fully seated in the Uchiha's lap. Naruto blushed a little at the sudden proximity of Sasuke's face to his.

" 'You'll be here' hmm_? _Suppose it wouldn't be so bad…"

Naruto narrowed his eyes, anger welling up in his chest.

"Oi, bastard!" he yelled, poking said bastard in the chest imperiously, "Are you mocking me?!"

Sasuke had the gall to attempt to look remotely innocent.

"Hm, me? Of course not."

"Oi!"

"Oh come on, Naruto."

Naruto vaguely fought back as he was suddenly dealt the hand of a molesting Sasuke, pale hands moving to squeeze his ass, making him unthinkingly push further into the Uchiha's chest in an attempt to get away from the prying hands.

A glance up to Sasuke's face revealed a smirk, and vindictive, glinting eyes.

Naruto growled, but was silenced, as lips bent down to capture his, turning his protest into muffled sounds that could be easily misconstrued as moans.

However, Naruto felt any resistance quickly melt away as Sasuke continued with his ministrations, running wandering hands underneath his school shirt, massaging at the soft tan skin they found there.

Naruto sighed, and pushed closer to Sasuke, breathing in the heady spice of musk that made his moans drop an octave, and his whimpers as Sasuke sucked on his tongue, turn to growls.

Neither paid any attention as several wood splinters cracked under them as they changed position.

And as Naruto threaded hands through dark, silky hair, only to grip the soft strands and pull, hard, he felt answering guttural growls rumbled through Sasuke's chest.

In a retaliation that seemed so purely natural, Naruto bit down on the lip in his reach, drawing blood that he eagerly lapped at, sending Sasuke into a frenzy of hot touches, nips and kisses.

"….Aaah…."

Naruto panted, and slowly opened watering eyes as Sasuke ripped their lips apart, and moved his hands to fumble with zippers. He watched on with hazy eyes at the sight of Sasuke shuffling down his body, only to curse, and in a strange moment of contemplation, the blond lifted a foot to push it insistently against the Uchiha's head, earning him a viscous growl and a flash of red eyes, that instead of inspiring any fear, only made excitement coil deep in his belly, mixing with the delightful heat of arousal.

He keened lowly, and before he knew it, Naruto felt his front bang into something hard, forcing air out of his lungs and leaving him momentarily stunned until he realised that the dark wood his eyes were looking at was the top of Sasuke's desk.

The youkai, had picked him up and rammed him face first over the desk, sending important papers flying as he settled himself between Naruto's limply hanging legs.

Naruto blinked as he saw deep mahogany wood, tracing the swirls and light patterns, even as sheets upon sheets of paper fell down all around him.

But he barely had a moment to contemplate this new position when he felt sharp, serrated claws dig into his flesh, making him gasp out.

"Ah!"

He sensed the nasty sting of pain, but it was drowned out by the strange, new pleasure he could take from it, accompanied with the warm, pulsing hard body pressed above him.

He cried out as Sasuke pushed himself forward, so that he lay mostly on top of the bent over blond, and with an animalistic roll of his hips, drove his burning erection between Naruto's still clothed ass cheeks, eliciting even greater friction as the poor blonde's own cock was rubbed unforgiving against the desk edge.

"…Ugn….ne-h…"

Sasuke set up a fast, brutal pace, digging his claws even deeper into Naruto's sides, that coupled with the crazy, heady pleasure of being grinded against and into the desk, sent him panting, groaning and mewling as the abused desk was sent to rock in time with their movements, leaving the sound of creaking wood to echo above their carnal activities.

Naruto could feel the distinct hot breath of Sasuke against the back of his neck, the feel of the Uchiha's length, hard and hot against his behind. He bit his lip, drawing blood, as the fiery coil deep in his gut burned fiercer with every hard thrust and rock of hips.

He could barely breath against it all.

Sasuke growled ominously from just above him, and Naruto braced himself as he was forced maliciously even further into the wood, he almost felt indented, but his attention was drawn as Sasuke, in a voice deep and thick with arousal, growled out words against the back of his sensitive, bared neck.

"You're mine Naruto, _**mine!**_ You understand!"

He dug his ripping claws deeper into the blonde's tan hips.

"Ah!"

"You're _never _getting away, you're mine, and _**only mine."**_

Naruto cried out desperately, the words only making his cock ache even more as it was ruthlessly forced against the desk.

"Ngh…."

"_Do you understand?!"_

The harsh words were snarled right against his ear, making Naruto shudder, and arch his back higher to rub against the youkai above him.

He felt pain, he felt pleasure, and he felt dirty.

And oh god, did it feel _good._

"Y-yes," he finally choked out, words spluttered against the desktop, the deep red wood burning into his eyes, _"I know…"_

Tears seeped out of his eyes as Sasuke, with a muffled growl, sank long, sharp teeth right into the back of his neck, holding the skin captive as he bit down, hard, the last few thrusts almost strong enough to topple the desk right over.

Naruto had nothing to bite down on, so when he finally came, his mind blank with white, his cry was strong and sharp, and unimpeded, a stark voice in the room full of creaks and pants.

He felt Sasuke shudder on top of him, and the crushing movements finally stopped, leaving two, gently shuddering bodies in their wake.

The creaking slowly came to a halt.

Nothing was said, apart from a whispered name of "Sasuke…" which hung and drifted in the air like a music note.

They both lay there, panting down from their high, before Sasuke finally had the sense to remove his claws from the blond youkai before him, and ignoring the slight wince of pain, twisted his body so he could lick the light wounds clean, feeling them heal right under his tongue.

Purring in contentment, Sasuke happily let Naruto flop himself over onto his back, and nuzzled against the tan neck, feeling Naruto butt his head back weakly in response.

After that, there was nothing for it but for them to both slip off the desk nonsensically and simply lay where they fell, randomly entwined with the other, a carpet of displaced papers lying beneath them haphazardly.

With any luck, they'd wake before Kakashi came home.

* * *

The room's windows were shuttered, as usual, and the haze of cigarette smoke was just as heavy as ever, a fog that hung round the dank corners of the room.

Machinery whirred to life on one side, papers littering all the work surfaces available, some in great piles that hid the people bent over them. Most of the occupants were working quietly, diligent in their tasks, murmured discussions in hushed whispers over the hum of computers.

The only notable task was carried out at a round table, lists and maps with markers laid bare on the worktop, with several feverish aids dashing up and over it, like a hive of bees.

The reason for their frenzied haste became clear when the door was slammed open, ricocheting almost off its hinges. More than a couple winced as a brazen, purple haired woman strode through the doorway, making a beeline for the mapping area.

"So," she called out cheerfully, "everything's up to speed, yes?"

A man, with beady eyes and palpitating quite worryingly, bobbed his head, shuffling to clear the main feature.

"We did as was asked, all the lists of known Awakened youkai; it truly is an epidemic!"

The exclamation was met with a stony gaze, and the poor man swallowed with difficultly, hastily moving large piles of papers.

"Ah, right, well in this area alone," he indicated one of the sectors, outlined in thick black marker, and the various red pins inside, "we have up to five new youkai residents…"

The man took a large, stuttering breath, trailing off under the indifferent stare of his superior. He gulped and turned back to the sprawling map that covered an entire table.

"Well at any rate, we've marked everyone confirmed to carry youkai blood, or character, as instructed, and drawn up the lists of vulnerables," he paused a moment, giving a glance to the silent female, "the old clans still giving you trouble eh?"

Anko narrowed her eyes at the irritating man, and was more than pleased to see him pale.

"I'm here for the list, not some shitty debrief, just hand it over," she drawled, bored.

When would they see that it was simply so much easier not to employ these…paper pushing little people?

Such a waste of time.

The man squeaked, and a crisp sheet of paper was tugged from under a pile and swiftly handed over as Anko ripped it right out of his grasp.

She glanced over it once, a sly smile pulling her lips, and setting off a flashing glint to her eyes.

"Gotcha."

The man had never been so happy to see the woman's back before, as she swept out the room with a laugh of sadistic delight.

* * *

**A/N: Anko's a right psyhco, isn't she? And what is she planning to do with that list? Wonder who's on it...Hope you all enjoyed the sasunaru action, more may be coming sooner than you think. And soon, the chaos shall begin. Won't that be just wonderful?**

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter, drop me a review if you have any questions- i'll answer them for you, and see you soon, ja!**


	22. Animals

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

**A/N: An update, hurrah! A super long one too, so you all better like it! Thanks for your reviews last chapter. **

**WARNINGS: LEMON LEMON LEMON! Seriously, YAOI action of the sexing kind- do not read this chapter if that is not what you want- M for a reason people! And don't say i didn't warn you either! YAOI! SEX!**

* * *

**Animals**

The sharp echo of the last school bell was a heavenly sound to the eager ears of almost every school student, and it was followed with the rough scraping of chairs and an outburst of high pitched chatter. Summer was starting, and the warmer weather, with clear skies, golden sunlight and gentle breeze made classrooms into prisons.

Birds fluttered in the balmy afternoon, chirping their pleasure as they twirled around telephone poles, occasionally pausing to perch on the wires strung across the road, way up high.

It was a placid day; even the seemingly endless traffic appeared calm and peaceful, road rage conspicuously absent.

"Oi, Naruto! Hurry up!"

Naruto started, glancing up towards where Kiba stood a good few yards away, a shy Hinata standing tentatively next to him. He grinned back at Kiba's annoyed face, but stuffed the rest of his shoelaces into his sock, and jogged up to join them, his bag slapping against his thigh as he did so, laden down with books.

"Jeez, you're such a bother sometimes…"

Naruto only continued to grin unrepentantly as he slowed to a more sedate pace beside his friend.

"Man, what exactly are we hurrying to? Nowhere, so chill out."

Kiba still huffed, while Hinata gave a breathless giggle, managing to turn beat red in the process, averting her eyes to the floor.

"So," began the blond, letting his eyes slip closed for a moment, relishing in the refreshing stillness, "what ya doing walking down this way? You too Hinata?"

He glanced around Kiba to look at the Hyuuga, only to see her hair covering most of her face.

Kiba, shifted beside him.

"Oh well, you know," he exclaimed, waving his arms aimlessly, "just enjoying the sights you know? I mean it's such a nice day…"

Naruto fixed the brown haired boy with a sly look, a malicious grin curling his mouth.

"Oh…really? Even when your house is in the opposite direction?"

Kiba flushed a rather unflattering puce, while Hinata made a squeaky sound, not looking anywhere near either of them, even as they walked side by side.

"Well," Kiba floundered, "actually, I suppose its 'coz, I mean, Neji usually drives Hinata and him home, but he had something to do today, and, I mean, it would be very uh…irresponsible of me! To not walk her back home…yeah…"

Naruto peered at him again for a moment before sidestepping him to whisper loudly in Hinata's ear, completely ignoring Kiba as the boy spun around to follow him.

"Is this a date, or something? 'Coz, I mean, sorry if I'm interrupting-!"

"No!" yelled Kiba, bringing to an abrupt halt to walk indignantly in front of the confused blond.

"This is, most certainly, not a date! I'm just…doing my civic duty as a _friend_!"

Naruto blinked in response.

"Uhuh."

The Inuzuka growled at him. Seriously growled.

"Yeah, like you've got room to talk- what about you and Sasuke, huh?"

The blond blinked again, before assuming a thinking position, the leaves from a tree overhead dappling his face.

"Hmm, I dunno- I don't think me and Sasuke have ever been on a _date_ before…"

Kiba practically ripped his hair out in frustration.

A pair of birds above promptly flew their perch.

"Gah! You're impossible, you know that Uzumaki?"

"Huh?"

Kiba looked on the verge of smacking his forehead, but resisted, turning forcefully ahead, beginning to walk again with determined steps.

"Whatever, its just not worth it," he sighed under his breath.

Naruto's face scrunched up in affront, and he opened his mouth to retort only to suddenly snap it closed.

Both Hinata and Kiba halted in their tracks, only to look back and see the blond staring off to the side. Following his line of sight, they could only find a shadowed alleyway on the other side of the road.

Glancing back, Kiba asked, concerned, "Hey, are you alright man?"

Naruto blinked, and span his head around to face him, breaking out of his trance with a non-intelligible grunt.

"Huh? Oh!" a hand snuck to the back of his head, "I just got this creepy feeling, you know? It's nothing!"

The blond waved a hand in dismissal and instead walked right to the front to grab Hinata's arm and began dragging her down the empty street, babbling as usual on the ramen where Iruka had taken him a few days ago.

Kiba, however, lingered for a moment longer, canine eyes glancing back one last time to the empty alleyway.

"Oi! Kiba! Who's being slow now?!"

"Oh, shut up blondie!"

His attention drawn, he caught up with them in seconds, mind completely forgetting the subject as the three continued on their way home.

Above, in the sparse tree line, the birds were forced of their perch yet again, chirping their irritation as they glided over the rooftops.

* * *

Naruto sighed heavily as he flopped on top of his bed, absently scratching at the waistband of his pyjama pants.

It had been another long day, even if nothing monumental had happened other than Sakura stalking both him and Sasuke for the entire day. The pink hair was pretty conspicuous, to be honest. Though he had no idea what she was doing, or hoping to gain- but he didn't pay it much mind- she didn't seem angry in any way, so whatever.

He yawned and rolled over to sleepily thump his pillow into a plumper state, comfy for his head to lie on.

He couldn't wait for summer break to start- the workload was ever increasing, and simply the thought of having to take proper examinations was enough to make him break out in a cold sweat. Iruka would surely kill him if he did anything less than pass with flying colours.

He smiled weakly- to think, he'd still been in Konoha only a short few months ago. With no friends, no life, and no Sasuke.

And wouldn't that be just a horrible thing?

A faint blush dusted his features, but it quickly faded.

He could dimly hear Iruka settling down for the night, clearing up the kitchen and running around like a bee so everything could be ready for tomorrow, another day of early mornings and _work. _

Grumbling under his breath, he fiddled with his bed covers, fluffing them up to maximum plushness before diving under them, wriggling around a bit before finding a comfortable spot, not keen to waste any precious sleeping time.

A single tan hand turned off the lamp, and the room was bathed in darkness, the grainy images fading in the blue light of the moon.

Exhausted, blue eyes were fast to slip closed, breaths evening out to sound rhythmically into the night, while moving lights cast shadows through the single window.

There was peace, the only movement that of Naruto's chest, moving up and down gently, and for several hours, as the moon rose in the sky, that was all.

But, in the early hours it was disturbed, as a shadow slithered across the street outside, slipping across the walls, past the pools of streetlight, halting just below a certain window.

It was more than one floor up, but the shadow didn't appear fazed, swathed in black, with only the occasional glint of metal to show its presence.

Furtive and silent, nimble fingers and limbs moved and stretched, a lithe body rising up seemingly effortlessly, until prying hands reached one windowsill, high above the ground.

The window was shut, despite the earlier warm weather, but it was little difficulty- a quick flick of the wrist, and a slight shine, and the wood easily gave way, letting itself be lifted without a sound.

It was small, but the shadow crept in noiselessly, feet moving with clear experience, not even scuffing the floor as it entered the room.

Its head swayed from left to right, it wasted no time, easily spotting its slumbering quarry, barely a few feet away.

Soundless, scentless, and with precision, the shadow made its way over with a gentle patience, inspecting the sleeping boy.

Like this, it would be easy to mistake the child as being innocent- nothing more than a guiltless human child, but the shadow knew better.

And so, there was little hesitation as a shining blade of metal was unsheathed from its back, using a knee to kneel on the bed, to get into the correct position.

Quick and clean, deep in the throat.

Then it'd die.

Naruto, despite his deep sleep, had not slept easily; a general feeling of unease pervaded even his subconscious. He hadn't moved a muscle, unlike him, but his mind had been restless, lids fluttering in REM sleep as he dreamed of senseless, but frightening things that once morning came, would disappear like mist under the sun.

Only, when Naruto awoke, suddenly with a start, he only felt his fear consume him, a horrible gaping maw of blackness.

For as soon as his eyes sprang open, did he see the dark figure looming over him, barely inches from his face.

If he'd hesitated a moment, he would have surely died, but instead, with a yelp, he rolled over and off the bed, landing on trembling feet.

The blade, though he hadn't seen it, cut deeply through his shoulder- not his throat.

He gasped, and clutched at the pain, feeling blood blossom under his fingers like water from a spilled cup.

His body felt frozen, and he stared, uncomprehendingly at the figure in his bedroom, that was still leaning on his bed, head tilted towards him, as if contemplating its next move.

He blinked.

And the figure didn't go away.

He felt panic well up in his veins and with not a moment too soon, the adrenalin sent him diving to the side as the blade lunged at him once again.

He cried out, and made an attempt for the door, mind shut down, and running solely on the instinct to flee, his shoulder throbbing sharply.

He cried out as he was rammed against a wall, preventing him from reaching the doorknob, and it was all he had to push back, and free himself from the strangely strong hold.

Panting, blood dripping from him in a little trail, he stumbled mindlessly to the other side of the room, back cold as a breeze blew in from the open window.

His heart thumped, and he stared, with barely time to think as the figure charged at him again, no hesitation.

He barely had the time to jump over the bed, nearly falling as a bony hand reached out to grab him, brushing his leg.

He fell down against the side of the bed harshly, scrambling to get to his feet as he hit the hard floorboards with a bang, desperately drawing in air as he turned to face his attacker, backing away, his eyes wide in fear.

He didn't understand.

Had his nightmares come to life, or was he still dreaming?

The pain and blood under his hand told him no, this was real, and unbidden tears welled up in his eyes.

He couldn't think.

This person…this thing was trying to kill him!

It wants…it's going to kill me!

The first tear rolled down his cheek and he watched, frozen and backed against a wall as the figure made another swift approach, not seeming to stop for anything.

_I don't want to die!_

The figure was only a few steps away-

And then, the bedroom door was slammed wide open, the semi-darkness parting to reveal the shocked, panting image of Iruka, clothes hanging off him and his long brown hair dangling over all his face.

The sound reverberated round the room like a gong, stirring all occupants to freeze in their tracks.

He paused, stunned on the threshold, wide eyes darting from Naruto to the figure, and back again. The other two occupants of the room seemed to follow the same pattern, the tableau stuck and frozen at each side.

Fresh red blood drops painted the floor and sheets, dripping the only sound in the room.

The floorboards creaked below their feet, and the curtain flapped in the strong winds billowing through the open window as thin beams of stark light slid across the darkened room, all cast in blue light.

There was another creak of wood as Iruka stumbled a foot forwards, intent to run, to protect his son.

"Naruto!" he gushed, a wild, animal look in his eyes as he attempted to dash forwards.

Naruto, though eager to get into those comforting arms, stepped back, eyes locked on the ominous figure framed by the window, frightened perhaps more now that the shadow had halted all movement.

He couldn't kill Iruka too…

The dark head moved left and right rapidly, before a hissed curse was issued from behind the mask and the figure jumped backwards, right out the open window, as silently as it came, a wraith of bad dreams.

"Naruto!"

The blond couldn't help but stare, eyes unblinking at the forcibly opened window, his frame beginning to shake, even as Iruka pulled him desperately to his chest, using a hand to stroke the blonde's head repeatedly, soothing, yet strained words spilling from his lips.

"It's okay, I've got you, I've got you!"

Naruto's bottom lip trembled as he turned into the embrace, body cold as he kept one blue eye firmly on the flapping curtain, as if expecting at any moment for death itself to walk in.

He grabbed onto Iruka in quiet desperation, shuffling as much as he could towards the wall, even cramped as he was on the floor, huddled with Iruka.

"There was- _it was…"_

"Shhh," muttered Iruka distractedly, as he ran his hands all over the blonde's body, as to reassure himself that he was safe, _alive._ He almost cried out in horror as his roving fingers found a large, welting gash ripped into the blonde's shoulder, right through clothe and flesh to leave a rippled, thick line of red. Sickly red that made Iruka's stomach turn.

Why was Naruto always covered in blood?

_Why?!_

Tears welled in his eyes, he couldn't protect his son; he never could.

"But he-it…came through-and…it was right over me," whispered Naruto brokenly, gaze still affixed with near sick obligation on the window, where his would-be-murderer had entered, snuck in like a snake in the grass, intent to devour him.

Iruka merely clutched to him tighter, face tight and drawn, and with shaking limbs hauled them upright, and let them back out the room, front first until they were out and could slam the door shut.

Iruka pushed the bundled fox onto the sofa and after only a moments frantic indecision, was dialling the phone as quickly as his numb fingers could press the buttons, hands trembling as his wide eyes roved the room with undiluted panic, as if he expected an intruder in every corner, hidden in any shadow. He was so rushed; he almost dropped the phone as the rings sounded next to his ear.

"Kakashi!"

* * *

It had been a quiet night so far in the penthouse apartment, filled with nothing more than the rapid scrawl of a pen, or the shuffling of paper, lights blaring on well into the night and early hours.

Kakashi rather liked nights like these, sitting in the sweet, forgiving silence that lent itself to diligent hard work and progress. It was also nice to simply bathe in each other's company, without having to say a word, both lost in their own problems.

Nights like these Kakashi had begun to savour, as Sasuke got older; he couldn't deny that he was more than a little fond of the boy that was the closest to family he ever had. It was almost nostalgic to just watch his brow furrow and lips twist over complex matters, when he'd held the exact same expression as a child whenever he was stuck on homework (which, truth be told, wasn't often).

Of course, Sasuke the almost-grown-up was amusing in new ways; his relationships for one, though Kakashi could still remember when Sasuke thought everyone around him was 'icky', and he wouldn't let girls get near him with a ten foot pole. Of course, Sasuke still didn't like girls, but Naruto-chan was very cute nonetheless.

It was a strange feeling really, and Kakashi could often forget that Sasuke was nearly a man- mostly as he still made mistakes and his temper was immature. But even Sasuke's impulsive side was waning a bit lately, and Kakashi was left with the odd sensation of knowing Sasuke was just on the cusp of 'flying the nest'.

And so, on nights like these, it was easy to forget these facts, even as he would treat Sasuke as an equal at the same time.

And besides anything else, it was incredibly fun to sit and muse and read, while Sasuke nearly pulled his hair out not a few feet away.

Ah, the simple joys of life.

However, his amused chuckle was cut short by the sharp ringing of a phone, causing him to blink in surprise.

He glanced towards Sasuke, who had put down his pen, peering curiously over the table at the noisy device.

The shrill calls of the phone echoed unnaturally, ominously.

No one ever used the house phone; if it was business it was always over a mobile.

Uneasiness settling in his gut, Kakashi, being closer, picked up the receiver with caution, almost wincing at the panicked exclamation that instantly sprang forth.

"Kakashi!"

He could feel Sasuke's dark eyes pin the back of his neck, and with a feeling of foreboding he pressed the speaker button.

"What is it, Iruka?" he asked calmly, even as he gently placed his book down, shifting in his seat in unease at his mate's shrill voice. Iruka had never called him like this before.

Never.

He gripped his fists tighter.

Heavy breathing echoed down the line.

"You have to come over right away, I don't know what to do and Naruto-!"

Sasuke had left his seat in an instant; moving over to join Kakashi with inhuman speed, face growing stormy.

"Iruka-san, what is it?" he asked curtly, a bad, squirming sensation settling in his guts, skin prickling.

There was a moment of silence, the vague sound of ruffling fabric, and then Iruka's voice, this time hushed to a whisper.

"I-I heard noises," he confided, "and when I woke, to check on Naruto, I- oh god he could have _died,_" he whispered plaintively.

"Iruka," growled Kakashi sternly, "_what happened?"_

"There-there was a hunter in his _room!_ A hunter, _in my house!_ And he was here for Naruto!"

Kakashi didn't bother to even look as Sasuke, expression curiously blank, immediately made for the door, his long strides propelling him out and down the stairs in seconds.

"Iruka," he said, voice uncharacteristically cold, "stay there, don't move, we're on our way."

Iruka didn't get a chance to say more as dial tone rang down the line.

* * *

Sasuke sat with restrained patience as the car drove as fast as legally possible down the empty streets of Tokyo. Kakashi was sat opposite, in similar condition, but the Uchiha paid him no mind, too busy seething with an hitherto unknown rage that bubbled right under his skin like a river of fire.

His jaw was clenched so tight; he could hear it creaking as sharpening teeth slipped over one another.

Not even fighting Gaara, had put him on such an edge.

_**Tenmakashi!**_

His mind bubbled with white-hot anger, the dark, bitter feelings of hate, malice and revenge crawling over the corners of his mind, sending it into a frenzy.

They'd tried to kill Naruto.

They'd surely _almost_ succeeded.

_**They'd tried to take his family away, again!**_

He breathed harshly through his nose, body coiled with the desperate need to see Naruto, to feel him, to hold him close, and bite and claw and scratch and-

He could feel a beastly thing growling thickly inside of him, lashing to be free in a way that at any other time would have unnerved him.

It screamed to go out, into the night so he could hunt down those pathetically mortal little humans, fragile ningen whose flesh would yield as easily as butter under his claws, their watery blood running from his mouth as he gave them _justice!_

_**How dare they!**_

It roared and paced, begging him to give in, to stop this dammed vehicle and run on himself- faster- and kill them, kill them _all._

He could barely distract himself- that he needed to be by _Naruto_, he had to make sure his smaller mate was safe, alive and well, and not taken from him- ripped away like all his precious family.

_He couldn't lose them again._

He'd become complacent, he furiously chided himself- to willing to wait and simply watch. It was obvious he couldn't wait anymore, that time wouldn't wait for him, or them, forever.

He should have known that they'd start assassinations as soon as possible, that they could come after Naruto, who had seemingly no protection at all.

What kind of demon was he, to leave his mate so alone, isolated and without protection?!

Pathetic piece of a male! Stupid, useless, unworthy- you could have lost it all, and it would have been no fault but your own!

Does it burn, does it sting?

His consciousness attacked him relentlessly and it was all he could do not to roar out his rage.

For he was all those things, and it did hurt, more than he thought he could feel again.

He could barely keep a lid on his youkai instincts a moment longer.

How long could this ride take?!

He was practically salivating with pent up rage by the time the car jerked to a halt, racing out the door instantly, dashing up the stairs to Iruka's apartment at speed.

He wouldn't let it, _couldn't_ let it happen again. It was about god-dammed time he took responsibility, and for all that he was, he would never be so stupidly careless again.

He would never be that naïve, helpless child again.

Not when it came to this, his most important treasures, the only ones that mattered.

He could curse his blatant stupidity all he liked, but as he threw the door open so hard it splintered and cracked in his wake, he only had eyes for the curled up blond fox on the dilapidated sofa.

Naruto could do nothing more than a distressed cry before he was forcefully picked up and pulled into the Uchiha's arms, the embrace like a casket of steel.

He was pressed so tightly to Sasuke's chest, Naruto feared he wouldn't be able to breath, but he didn't care, and gladly buried his head deep into the Uchiha, breathing in deeply his strong, masculine scent that made him feel so safe.

The rumbling growl that vibrated out, full of animalistic intent sent him trembling. He was so shaken, he almost felt as if he'd never be all right again. The pain in his shoulder stung, but he didn't much care for that anymore, he could only see the dark, swathed face merely inches from his own, the flash of a blade and the sensation of fear, so much _fear. _

He could have died, perhaps should of died.

Bu he was alive.

It was unreal, and he couldn't think of anything else as he shook, blue eyes wide in shock as Sasuke tried his best to completely tuck him under his only somewhat larger body.

He could dimly feel the warmth of Sasuke nuzzling his face, his growls deepening into short, rumblings purrs, the sound trying to calm him.

In return, Naruto could do nothing but cling to the other man, clutching him as if he were a lifeline he couldn't survive without.

_Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke._

As he buried his head determinedly into the Uchiha's shirt, his first hot tears fell, wetting both his face and Sasuke's shirt as his eyes clenched shut in his sudden anguish.

He had been so _scared_, so terrified at the prospect of his life ending, of the all encompassing blackness that would await him.

He may have been in fights before in the past, but he'd never felt so- never been that close to impending death.

He'd never thought of it before, death was inescapable, but he'd never once pondered his own death, and had never once wondered what effect it would have on the other's around him.

He'd always thought of the present, the now, and hadn't much thought about past or future.

What was there to contemplate in the first place?

But tonight, his future could have ended.

And the thought brought such a tightness to his chest that he could barely bring himself to explain it, as it pressed like a giant weight down upon him, making his insides clench with misery, a new shock.

He gasped for breath, but there wasn't much help.

_Sasuke._

In that room, he hadn't really feared for his own life as such, but rather experienced the overwhelming desire to _live._

To wake the next day, as he'd always had.

_Sasuke, I was so scared- that I would never see you again…_

And see Sasuke, bask in the new, exciting feelings he had for the other youkai, to be free to laugh, cry and simply love him.

He was young, they both were young, and their relationship new and still immature, but it was precious, so very precious, like a grand flower just starting to bud against the frost, and he couldn't bare the thought that it'd end- whither and die like it never even existed in the first place.

For it did exist- he existed, so did Sasuke, and so did this bond between them.

And it'd be his biggest regret for it to perish.

And the thought that Sasuke could be left behind, left only with these same feelings of anguish and heartbreak and such sheer _sadness, _made it almost unbearable as he cried, as silently as possible against the warm, breathing, living form of Sasuke.

That was true terror, what scared him the most.

Naruto wasn't used to caring for someone like this; for the longest time he only had himself to care about, and with Iruka it was different- he was still the child, and he the parent.

But these new, intense emotions were so strong they scared him. Was this that elusive desire adults called love- the very same that made rational people mad, and made sadness so wonderfully sweet.

This fierce, passionate, fiery emotion he held for Sasuke, and Sasuke alone, that was love?

It was far more terrible than he could have imagined.

After all, he'd nearly been stabbed to death in his own bed, his own home, done nothing to defend himself, was injured, shocked to death, and here he was, not even crying for himself, but for Sasuke.

It was official, he'd gone crazy.

Absolutely, perfectly crazy, with no rhyme nor reason.

It had to be love.

He was so caught up in his thoughts, that he hardly realised as Sasuke tensed in his arms, spitting growls returning. He darted his head up sluggishly, blinking watery blue eyes at him in confusion.

He watched as dark eyes span to red, claws beginning to puncture his sides, and following the Uchiha's gaze, he found it resting on his wounded shoulder, the blood already beginning to dry.

He glanced back to Sasuke rapidly, and for the life of him couldn't read a single thought from him. Other than it was clearly apparent that he was mad.

Seething mad.

"Sasuke?" he whispered, suddenly struck dumb by a new feeling of unease.

He was promptly shocked as Sasuke roughly pushed him out of his arms. He nearly hit the floor, but caught himself in time. He peered at Sasuke, more than a little hurt, and swirling in uncertainty.

Sasuke wasn't looking at him, but the ground, fists clenched, though they could barely close anymore, the fingers forming more of a …paw-like structure.

Naruto watched in fascination at the sight, not only did Sasuke have claws, and surely fangs as well, but the ripple of something midnight was creeping up his fingers, starting to also crawl across the back of his hands to his wrists.

It reflected a silky black in the moonlight as Naruto recognised it for what it was; fur.

He started in surprise, and opened his mouth, but Sasuke snapped before he got the chance.

"Go pack your things," he spat harshly, in a cold voice Naruto didn't like, "you won't be returning here again."

The blonde's mouth gaped in surprise, and he instinctively glanced towards Iruka, only to find him oddly quiet, eyes glossy as he was tucked under Kakashi's arm.

"What? You can't be serious?"

Sasuke didn't bother to answer, and neither did Iruka make any move to protest.

His blue eyes flashed- this was Iruka's home.

"Bastard, you can't just tell me what to do-!"

He was cut off as Sasuke shot him a glare that burned the words right off his tongue, mesmerised under the vicious blood red eyes that bored right through him.

"Just _go, and do it."_

He looked at Sasuke, in incomprehension for a few moments before he turned, slowly as he lowered hsi head, Sasuke's harsh words stinging. He gave a last glance to his mate, and noticed for the first time that the Uchiha's entire body was twitching.

He eyed the new inclusion of fur bristling on the boy's hands and stumbled from the room, back into his own, through the cramped hallways, boards creaking under foot, pictures, furniture and even curtains all washed out a dull grey, seeping with grainy blue light.

Stepping back onto the floorboards that were dotted with tiny circles of his own blood made him anxious, and his crumbling resolve to stay vanished, replaced with a new sense of urgency as he glanced towards the still open window. Surely, that guy could return at any time.

He pulled out a bag, and stuffed any and all possessions of value inside in record time, quickly disregarding what wasn't needed.

It took less than five minutes, but it was five minutes too long to spend in that room alone- he was somewhat surprised that Sasuke had let him out of his sight, but then- he obviously wasn't coping too well. The Uchiha appeared stuck to his seat with superglue after all, frame trembling dangerously.

He slammed his way back into the small, cold living room, only to find Iruka had a bag similar to his own. He could barely take a last glance around the apartment- well-worn chairs and table, homey kitchen, unmade beds and lopsided sofa- before an unforgiving arm wrapped its way around his shoulders, pining him to Sasuke's side.

He didn't dare to look up at the other's face, letting his head fall back as they walked down the stairs, listening to the pounding of Sasuke's heart.

It must be a strange sight, he thought dimly, for anyone to see this little precession of theirs. Almost like a pair of refugees being spirited away.

He had no more time to think, however, as he was pushed unceremoniously into the back seat of a car, and was at once pulled tightly into Sasuke's grasp once again.

The boy didn't say anything to him, but Naruto took his hands in his all the same, letting his thumbs run over the light dusting of fur growing on his boyfriend's hands.

It was very soft, surprisingly long, and Sasuke seemed to find it at least a little soothing as he tilted his head, and Naruto suddenly felt the strange sensation of a sandpaper tongue working its way over the uneven skin of his shoulder wound.

It kinda tickled.

He closed his eyes and turned his head, feeling some strange sort of sadness as the car hurriedly rumbled and pulled them away from the first home he'd ever really known.

He pushed back as far as possible into Sasuke's lap, and tried to concentrate on the slight sense of adventure, bundled with all his belonging's, off to a new place, and undoubtedly new life, adrenalin still lingering from the night's shocking experiences.

But all he felt was tired.

And shaky- which he didn't really like.

Not to mention a lingering sadness, even as Sasuke gave his shoulder a tongue-bath. In any other situation, he would have laughed at the other boy's actions, but he felt nothing of the sort.

He felt nervous, tense as he glanced toward the pair opposite, unaware that Sasuke did the same, but with wary, measuring eyes that settled on Kakashi.

The other youkai's presence was bothering- all he wanted was to thoroughly inspect Naruto, to fully reassure himself of the other's existence, and he couldn't do that in another's presence. Kakashi may have been a father figure, but right now he was another dominant youkai presence, and in his state of anxiety it was riling him up.

He could barely restrain a growl towards the other man in such a small space as his grip around the blond in his arms tightened.

Naruto had been injured, his precious blood spilled. He was hurt and vulnerable, and it was Sasuke's job to protect him while he was weakened, he wouldn't fail again. And Kakashi was a potential threat he couldn't ignore.

He grunted, an animalistic noise that prompted a response out of Naruto, who raised his head and nuzzled under the Uchiha's chin.

Not much calmed, he gazed pointedly away, impatient to get back home and settle Naruto in, to finally be by themselves.

He glared darkly as he held a tight reign on his vicious need to claim the fox sitting so serenely in his lap.

Naruto wasn't technically his mate yet, even though he already thought of him as such, and the fact burned itself like a scar in his mind, a splinter that had the beast thrashing.

Under the delusion that they had all the time in the world, he'd waited, been foolish and hesitated. A weak and foolish decision- he was an Uchiha! They took what they wanted immediately and held it close, less someone foolish try to take it away.

And take, someone had tried.

The same who had taken from him before.

He was sick of being weak, and too slow, too helpless. As a child, it was forgivable, but Sasuke wasn't a child anymore- not really. He was joining the ranks of men; he even had a fucking mate! He couldn't afford to be a little boy anymore.

He'd thought he'd realised this, he'd thought he'd grown.

It was obvious, that he still had growing to do, but he swore, that he would no longer hide, and that he would now take action.

He would be worthy of being called an adult.

And it would bloody well start with making an honest man out of Naruto.

With such thoughts fuelling him, he manoeuvred his head to bite down gently, but very firmly on the back of Naruto's neck, holding it there between his strong jaws, his sharpened teeth grazing the soft tan skin.

Naruto immediately stiffened, instinct starting to take over his actions as he slumped against Sasuke in approval, not struggling to break the hold.

Kakashi for his own part, blinked, startled at the action, even more so as Naruto didn't even squirm, obviously accepting it- the first part in the animalistic stages of a proper mating.

He couldn't say he wasn't surprised at Sasuke's new sudden boldness, and the fact he was starting it even in the car.

He'd thought it'd be a good few months before Sasuke stepped up to it- or for Naruto to be ready.

But as he watched, both youkai were still, and Kakashi could only hope and fervently pray that they didn't continue any further until they reached home- a bedroom- a private one.

Kakashi had no desire, pervert or no, to see Sasuke mate.

Iruka made an odd noise in the back of his throat, and a quick glance showed that the brunette was fidgeting as he peered under his lashes at the pair opposite. Iruka obviously recognised the stance.

Kakashi sighed under his breath, awkward at all the tension in the small, far too confined space and brushed back a few strands of chocolate hair, holding him tightly under his arm.

He could hardly blame Sasuke though. After all, as soon as they got home, Iruka wouldn't be leaving his bed for days.

Besides, he lamented ruefully, it was about time for Sasuke to spread his wings, and take the plunge.

He felt no surprise at the speed Sasuke managed to harrow Naruto up the stairs when they finally arrived, the way he dragged the blond through the apartment, to his bedroom, or the way the door slammed shut with enough force to rattle it off its hinges.

* * *

Naruto watched with no small amount of hesitance as Sasuke slammed the door, pushing him with firm, insistent hands towards the bed.

It was dark, though the curtains weren't drawn, letting in the same blue light that coloured everything in sight.

For a moment his vision was fuzzy, but it soon cleared as easily as if he were in daylight. Round blue eyes peered around Sasuke; as he was placed down to sit on the bed, Sasuke hopping up onto the mattress to press against him from behind.

The room was simple, a standard fare of plain wooden furniture, four walls, dark walls and more floorboards, though these shone with sleek varnish, and though he tried to interest himself in it, he couldn't find himself sufficiently distracted as he heard Sasuke shift on the bedcovers behind him. He could swear that even the Uchiha's breath was echoing in the air.

He attempted to glance behind him, only to receive a fleeting look of dark, inky hair and he felt himself tremble slightly as he was suddenly entrapped between a pair of strong arms.

He watched, almost in fascination at the clawed hands that gripped the duvet tight enough to rip it, placed on either side of him, and feeling the heat as Sasuke settled firmly against his back, melding them together. He couldn't help but stiffen slightly as Sasuke returned his attention to his neck, nuzzling the soft tan skin.

There was something-…not wrong, but strange, about how Sasuke was acting. The way he pressed up against him from head to tail, trapping him in a way that seemed more than his normal possessiveness. The hot puffs of his breath on his neck.

It was if the air was charging around them.

Naruto held only a vague idea of what was going on.

He could understand that Sasuke wanted to hold him, keep him close after what happened tonight, but this was different.

When Sasuke had locked his jaw around his neck back in the car he'd felt a strange new sensation- one that seemed almost bestial in nature. It had been almost scary, how his normal thoughts just seemed to…switch off. He'd been completely aware of what had been happening, but his mind just processed it all differently.

He couldn't help but nervously wonder if that was what being a youkai was really about.

The bite had felt like a claim, a question, and at first he'd wanted nothing more than to throw off whatever was holding him down, but then he reminded himself it was _Sasuke_, and he felt accepting.

Even now, that feeling hadn't completely gone away; he was feeling a lot more…animal than usual, in a way that was both exhilarating and terrifying all at once.

He'd seen Sasuke show demon characteristics, almost from the start, but he hadn't felt anything himself. In fact, when he'd woken on the day Kakashi had predicted he'd fully awake as a youkai, he'd felt almost disappointed when he got up, looked in the mirror and the saw the very same person as always.

And now, he was starting to feel…awake.

Alive, free, strong, the blood in his veins starting to pump faster and faster and Sasuke held him in his grip.

_It was…wonderful._

He was hit with a sudden well of self-confidence, and, assured; he mischievously wiggled out of Sasuke's death grip, feeling inexplicably playful as energy surged through him in waves.

He fell off the bed backwards, but his crash with the floorboards hardly fazed him as he kept keen, alight blue eyes fixed on Sasuke, watching as the bigger youkai coiled, muscles tensing and flexing under pale skin.

Naruto felt himself tense in response, filling with glee as he awaited the pounce, ready to sprint and run at any moment.

They were locked in a staring match, a warning growl reverberating from the Uchiha's chest, which only caused Naruto's excitement to build and boil.

Another moment hung between them, and another.

…

With a feral snarl Sasuke launched himself at the taunting blonde fox, his claws meeting only soft wood as Naruto darted out of the way, scrambling with untold speed to crouch behind the small sofa in the largish room.

Sasuke was after him immediately, hovering between incensed and a building lust as he skidded around the obstacle, only to see a flash of gold disappear from sight.

He immediately changed direction, using all fours for extra manoeuvring and lunged, almost catching Naruto's ankles, causing the blond to yelp, an uneven sound that sent Sasuke tearing after him.

And so the chase continued, Naruto weaving in and out of the minimal furniture, using the bed as both a launching pad and barrier against his pursuer. Naruto was being uncannily nimble and fast as he evaded the Uchiha, who was growling near constantly as he hunted after the fox, claws digging into the wood, driving up scratches in the floor, only to be matched by Naruto, who used his own appearing claws to let him take corners at speed.

For a room with a limited space, Naruto was definitely making the most of it as he tumbled right over the bed, hitting the floor with laughter bubbling up in his throat, eyes glowing in the dark as a somewhat sadistic smirk split his face.

This was just so fun! Running like the prey from a hunter, only to drive said demon mad- if the irritated snarls were any indication.

Watching that proud youkai chase after him with abandon was quite a thrilling sight, feeling those sinful red eyes lock onto his back and hearing the heavier male run after him.

As he dived behind the sofa once more, he was quite unaware of the way his eyes had slitted, his clawed hands and feet acting more like paws to propel him ever faster in this pseudo game of tag. He had a few nicks on his arms and legs, but they were quickly closing up –evidence of where Sasuke had nearly caught onto him.

He was aware, however, of how he was driving his poor mate mad, leaving the Uchiha to stalk him in ever increasing frustration, though his own excitement at the chase was clear as day as they both stopped on either side of the room, Naruto half hidden behind the couch, and Sasuke near the door, peering at each other intently, waiting for the other to move.

They were both panting, sizing each other up with gleaming eyes.

Naruto was aware, somehow, somewhere, that he'd evaded Sasuke for well long enough, that he could stop now, but he was unwilling to give up the game- finding it far too much fun to run and skid and use up all of this new found energy of his, and making Sasuke sweat along with him.

How strange that only a little while earlier he'd been full of sorrow and fear, but now all such things were blissfully forgotten. But, even if he'd notice it, Naruto wasn't one to care about such things.

And so he watched in eager anticipation as Sasuke finally moved, slinking closer at a slow, tortuous pace, acting much like a panther as he stalked across the room silently. Naruto tensed his legs, ready to spring at a moment's notice, warily eyeing up the other.

However, just as he judged the Uchiha too close, sending him scrambling into movement, Sasuke pounced, quite literally, barrelling right over his sofa-shield, to plough right into him.

The sofa toppled over them, but Naruto didn't really notice as Sasuke finally managed to pin him with his sheer weight.

_When did he get so heavy?_

Naruto, however, wasn't too upset at the result, squirming quite happily under the other male, curling himself up a little, and feeling strangely content, even as energy buzzed under his skin like bees.

Sasuke dragged him up, keeping a firm hold as he threw him down onto the bed.

Against his will, Naruto almost giggled. Though, if ever asked, he would swear it was a snicker as Sasuke rammed himself down onto him, knocking the wind out of him.

Naruto felt no shame in pouting mockingly at the Uchiha, as Sasuke buried his head in a tan neck, sniffing his way up and down- his light breaths were almost enough to make him burst out laughing, but he quieted his giddiness, and instead let himself relax against the soft covers, bringing hands to twine themselves in dark locks.

Sasuke rumbled a purr against him, and Naruto responded in kind with his own rumble of approval, pulling the Uchiha closer.

He felt pink lips pull into a smug smirk against his skin, but Naruto didn't mind too much for once, his fingers already working on a much more important task, fumbling with the buttons that held those pesky clothes on the Uchiha's body.

He could feel Sasuke chuckle as, fed up, Naruto merely ripped off the shirt with ease, almost managing to do the same with his lower half, but was thankfully stopped by Sasuke's deft hands as they undressed him in a much more efficient manner.

Boxer's followed, and Naruto was far too absorbed in roving his gaze all over Sasuke's nude body to notice where their clothes were haphazardly thrown all over the floor.

He groaned in pleasure as their bodies were aligned, finally without any barriers separating them. He could immediately tell the huge difference it made, calling out to a more primal part of himself.

And indeed, as Sasuke pressed lips firmly against his own, a devilish tongue forcing its way into his mouth, Naruto could feel it bubble up in his chest, an animalistic need that sent him steamrolling ahead, making him rub against the Uchiha almost frantically.

He grinned as he felt Sasuke stiffen, but it fell into confusion as he felt Sasuke halt all movement and draw back, taking with him all the nice sensations. A part of Naruto screamed in frustration.

He looked up questioningly only to meet blood red eyes, tomoe furiously swirling. Sasuke was, undeniably, a work of art- all ivory skin and fine planes, sculptured muscle and silky midnight hair that framed a beautiful face. But there were also fangs practically bursting from his mouth, white and sharp, serrated claws on both hands and feet, and both dusted with that same soft, dark fur. And there was something that was new- it made his eyes widen as he caught sight of _something_ twitching behind him that melded in with the low light perfectly. As if sensing his gaze, it swayed, catching a flicker of light, revealing it to be a long, sinuous tail, which was covered in long, luxurious fur the colour of midnight.

Naruto gasped, feeling his own body react to the energy in the air, the feel of Sasuke's skin on his skin. He barely managed to catch his breath to glance down to his hands that lay limply across his stomach, to find them in a similar state to Sasuke's, though any fur was harder to see, fine wisps of spun gold. But it was the discomfort on his head, but mostly his spine that made him squirm, feeling Sasuke's red eyes watching him intently, as an even thicker furred tail unfurled from underneath him, as golden as the hair on his head, the tip a glorious crème.

Naruto gasped out, chest heaving, as the arrival of the new appendage was accompanied by a sudden wave of intense heat that had him curling up, toes twitching as a fire lit in his belly. Eyes squeezed shut, he felt more than heard Sasuke rumble above him, and when his eyes reopened, they were glassy and dark with a new, vicious lust.

He gazed at the youkai above him, almost lazily, finding the wonderfully naked figure more than satisfactory, and the fox, finished with his final inspection, pushed himself further into the bed, shifting along with Sasuke, and then allowed for tan legs to slowly spread apart, encompassing to hook around a pale waist.

And no sooner was the move complete than was Sasuke ravishing him again, mouths moving with passion, a fiery heat that engulfed him, sinking down his throat to fuel the fire in his belly.

He cried out, as Sasuke, a wild look in his eyes, slammed him into the bed, ramming his slightly larger body right against Naruto's, which had the bonus of bringing their hardening lengths brushing against one another, connecting in a friction that had both growling with pleasure as it stoked the white hot heat sintering between them.

Naruto's breath came in pants, barely bringing enough into his lungs as he felt Sasuke move his lips down his jaw, fevered kisses turning into naughty nips down his neck, laving attention to the junction of his shoulder. Sharp white teeth nibbled and sucked, drawing blood that settled against a gleeful tongue before it was eagerly swallowed.

"Ha-ha…ngh……oh!"

Sasuke grunted as Naruto rocked up into him, renewing the flash of pleasure that the friction brought the both of them, and he moved further down, his tongue mapping nipples and navel, lapping at the sweating skin as he hurried down a hip, purposefully missing the straining erection that was already budding with pre cum.

"….uh….Sa-….ss…"

Heavy breathing filled the air in symphony, the erotic call of flesh moving against flesh, sweat causing skin to glisten as muscles swelled and relaxed under undulating limbs.

Sasuke paid attention to the inner thighs, nipping hard over the artery, rubbing his nose against the soft, sensitive skin, letting his lips follow a trail as Naruto called dimly from somewhere above him.

"Ughn!"

A pink tongue licked pink lips, which was soon followed by fingers, saliva glistening slightly before they were moved out of sight, searching for a sweet little hole.

Naruto squirmed at the feeling of intrusion, body naturally curling upwards to avoid it, only to be stopped by firm, gripping hands that held his hips with an iron like vice.

A finger pushed further into him, and Naruto felt the beginnings of tears burn his eyes, as another one joined it. This was more painful than he'd thought, but in the rushed frenzy of this first coupling, it only brought an increased sense of rugged pleasure, even as it pained him all the more.

He was about to yell out his discomfort, only for a moan to fall from his lips instead, as a hot mouth suddenly closed around his aching length, a tongue swiping at the leaking head with a cruel pressure.

"…ha-…ha….uh!"

The fire re-ignited with a passion in his stomach, licking his insides, his chest feeling like it would burst, the unrelenting tongue torturing his straining shaft.

He barely noticed the third finger as a result, until it hit just one spot-

"Ah!"

That sent him yelping as his vision momentarily blanked. Dazed, he didn't even have the awareness to notice as the fingers were duly removed, as well as the mouth on his cock.

He'd never, ever, felt _that _before.

But before he knew it, Sasuke was kissing him again- Naruto could feel fangs of his own clanking together. He brought his hands to tangle in the dark hair he loved so much, and was barely fazed as his fingers brushed against something furry that twitched amongst the strands.

He slowly reopened his eyes, gazing deeply into the red boring into his own, pants falling from his mouth, watery eyes fixed on his mate's face, the swirling eyes, the red flush across his nose and the parted, swollen pink lips.

_Beautiful._

And that was Naruto's last coherent thought as the bestial nature he'd suppressed so far, finally burst free to take control.

Both tails lashed the air, and twin growls fell through the room.

Naruto ran his hands down the pale back, claws leaving thin red lines where they went, causing Sasuke to hiss in pain.

Those same claws dug in deep, however, as Sasuke made his move, slamming Naruto's legs wide open, and gripping his hips with bruising force, his own claws digging into the tan skin as he pressed the head of his own burning erection at the entrance of the stretched hole with no more deliberation.

Naruto hissed, but didn't struggle as he felt the intrusion into his body, a body that was on fire, fuelled with the need to mate, properly and truly- hard and fast.

It hurt with every inch, but soon Sasuke was fully seated, right to the hilt, connecting with him as intimately as it was possible to be, two bodies joined into one.

"…ha-ha…."

The fox was given no time to adjust, as the Uchiha positioned himself to pull out and viciously ram back inside, the thrust enough to shake the bed, headboard slamming the wall behind it.

"Ugn!"

Naruto flung his head back with a cry, gripping for dear life as Sasuke began to thrust with an animalistic intensity, grinding them so close together, there was confusion over whose limb were whose as both demons began to move in sync, easily falling into a dance as old as time itself, rocking together with grunts of wild animals, not people.

The bed creaked, only overshadowed in noise by the harsh pants of the two joined youkai, and punctuated as Naruto cried with a yelp as Sasuke's thick, burning cock hit his sweet spot dead on. The sound seemed to spur Sasuke on ever further, his thrusts fast and deep, their flesh slipping against each other as they moved.

The fire in Naruto's belly coiled ever deeper, thrumming in intensity as it built, his own cock aching for just a _little more._

Sasuke rammed him suddenly with particularly intensity; using the motion to bury his head against the tan neck and shoulder, breath wisping against the heated, sweat slicked skin, as one paw-like hand moved from a hip to mercifully wrap around Naruto's length.

The thrusting continued in a frenzy but the heat was becoming too much, the feel of Sasuke against him, _inside him_, the hand around his throbbing shaft, and the pounding of his prostate.

The heat coiled for a final time before releasing in a flash of white, blurring his vision as he clenched around Sasuke, and as a wet warmth coated his chest in thick splatters.

"Uh!"

Sasuke tensed above him with only another thrust as his fox mate clenched around him with burning force, a guttural groan escaping him as he bit down, hard, onto the tender flesh, his long, jagged teeth sinking deep, blood filling his mouth.

The blond below stiffened, but didn't move away as Sasuke swallowed the blood in his mouth, slowly moving away, licking the red from his lips even as his cock still twitched, deep inside of Naruto.

The blond growled a little, and in retaliation, latched deeply onto the pale shoulder in easy reach. Sasuke, for his part didn't move away, letting canines rip into his flesh, baring the sting.

He remained in position, above Naruto even as the fox pulled back to lap soothingly at the wound, and only once the blond lay back against the pillow, satisfied did he join him, collapsing down on his equally exhausted mate.

He grunted softly into the blond hair, and contentedly felt a tan hand reach up to awkwardly stroke his cheek and hair.

Purring, he nuzzled against his new mate, receiving a contented rumble in return, and he pulled Naruto into his arms, turning so that they were both on their sides, spooned together in a relaxed heap. He was still lodged inside Naruto, but he was more than happy where he was as he slowly drifted off into blissful sleep, along with Naruto, who cuddled sleepily into his embrace.

One last, affectionate lick on a scarred cheek, and Sasuke's purrs subsided to a snoring rumble, finally at peace.

* * *

**A/N: Drama eh? Told you there'd be action! And its still not over yet. Hope you liked this chapter- feel free to give me back some feedback, and i'll see you all soon, ja!**


	23. Pillow Talk

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

**A/N: I'm baaaccck! Sorry for the wait, especially as this chapter is about half the size as the last one, but lots of things have been happening. And also, this was a good place to stop. But the next couple of chapters are likely to be very long indeed so if i don't update for a little while, that'll be why ;P Anyways, thankyou all very much for your gorgeous reviews last chapter, and i hope you can enjoy this one just as much, even without the lemon material.**

Warnings: Yaoi, swearing, and a lot of conversation. Oh, and fluff.

* * *

**Pillow Talk**

It was the early hours of the morning, but as far as Iruka was concerned it might as well have been the middle of the day as he lay wide awake, staring unseeingly at the ceiling, long chocolate strands pooling on the pillow around his head- a miniature halo.

His normally kind face was troubled, worried etched right into his wrinkled brow, the covers pushed down to let him breath in the heat of a moment long passed.

He could vaguely hear the distant thunder of cars barrelling along a highway in the far distance, along with the odd night sound- a screech, thunder or crash, muted by the drawn curtains that draped over the window. The usual thrumming sounds of a city at night.

It was almost nostalgic.

When he'd first gone to Konoha he'd had great trouble sleeping those first few weeks; no noise out except crickets, and the sky as pitch as coal- not even feeble starlight could pierce the tree line. Claustrophobic, he'd lain awake many a night before his body gave finally into exhaustion. He'd missed the comforts of nights in the city back then, but now, even though he was re-accustomed to it, he was kept wide awake.

He sighed forlornly, flinging his tired body to the side, experiencing momentary jealousy as he spied the slumbering form of Kakashi beside him, perfectly at ease with sleeping the rest of the night away.

He snorted softly to himself; typical.

As much as he'd like to join his lover in the sweet world of dreams, his mind refused to rest, sparking off at the slightest thing; a creak of wood, a flutter of a curtain. The _possible_ sound of weeping from next door.

He'd already long admitted defeat; he'd find no rest tonight. And glancing toward Kakashi, he found it unfair that _he _could relax all he liked, while he was forced to relieve scenes of ever more frightening intensity.

Filled with a sudden ire, he reached out and gave the larger man's shoulder an imperious poke, wrinkling his nose when all the silver haired man did was roll over and fling a searching arm out next to him.

Huffing, Iruka made a point to sit up, arm's crossing over his bare chest. If he wasn't aware that Kakashi could see practically better at night than he did during the day, he might've lit a lamp.

Instead, he decided to take advantage of the demon's more sensitive hearing, shrewd eyes glittering in the low light.

"Do you think he's alright?"

He was rewarded with a groan as Kakashi buried his head into the pillow, and Iruka looked at him tersely, gripping the cover edge tightly. How he could be so laid back at a time like this-

"Iruka," a raspy voice rose from beside him, "…is this really the time?"

Iruka ignored him completely, and instead turned once more to stare a hole in the bedroom door, behind which was the rest of the apartment.

The one Naruto was in, left all alone with a violent, lustful rampaging demon.

Who was, worst of all, a teenage boy, who would only think of sex!

Anything could have happened to him, and Kakashi didn't seem to give a damn!

In fact…he never really seemed to care about what happened to Naruto, did he? He just told him, repeatedly, again and again, 'don't worry'.

Well there was a good damn reason for him to worry!

Kakashi may believe in him, but as far as he was concerned, Sasuke was a liability. The fact he'd had to stand by for the past few months and simply watch as that good for nothing youkai stole his son out from his very nose was bad enough.

Kakashi telling him to just let it go- that was simply not going to happen. He wouldn't allow it. He refused.

He stared at Kakashi waspishly as a gloomy grey eye opened, blurry and dull. He watched appraisingly as Kakashi groggily came to his senses, back as rigid as a pole, lips pursed together tightly, brow troubled.

"Kakashi," he said carefully, voice tight, "what _do _you think of Naruto?"

Kakashi instantly sprang awake, peering at Iruka with sharp eyes that narrowed as a silence stretched between them. Even the sounds of late night speeding cars from down below seemed to quieten in their wake.

Kakashi felt himself sweat; it was precisely this kind of question that he'd wanted to avoid as much as possible. Iruka was so sensitive about the Naruto issue, and one wrong word would have the loaded question backfire right in his face. And the couch was _not _as comfortable as it may first appear.

As a result, he twisted himself between the sheets until he was comfortable, absently thinking that all this was far too much hassle as he collected an answer carefully.

"Besides the obvious? Well…I do think he's good for Sasuke; he's exactly what he needs."

The words were as careful as could be, but unfortunately missed the mark a little, as was apparent when Iruka swelled like an angry bullfrog.

"Oh, so if its for _Sasuke, _its all alright, is it?!"

Sweat formed along the man's brow as he rubbed the bridge of his nose self-consciously.

"Ah-aa…maa, maa, Iruka-koi, that's not it. I just know that Naruto and Sasuke are good for each other, that's all."

One glance showed that Iruka was far from pacified, and he made sure his next words were full of seriousness, holding his mate's gaze through the grainy dark of the room, separated only by a few inches of bedding.

"And I also know that Naruto needs Sasuke too, which you would have noticed if you weren't so intent on ignoring it. If Naruto really was in any danger, or was unhappy, I'd intervene, but there's no need for that."

His eyes softened, and a sly arm came to wrap around Iruka's lonely shoulders.

"I know it's hard," he muttered softly, "but they've got to do these things on their own now, mistakes and all."

Iruka looked at him with wet eyes, the coffee colour swirling as he hunched his back, biting his swollen lips between his teeth.

"I guess so…" he muttered softly, appearing almost bereft as his gaze darted across the room, as if the floor had just been pulled out from under his feet. The teacher suddenly felt quite small in this big room.

Kakashi really couldn't help himself, and he deftly pulled the smaller man to his chest, threading his hands through those delightfully soft, long strands of chocolate hair. He felt Iruka begin to relax into his calming hold, and he let out a secret, giddy smile, as his strokes slowly morphed into pets.

"Yes, yes, I know, its all very sad, our babies are all grown up- but you shouldn't dwell on depressing thoughts like that."

The smile turned down right lecherous as he whispered intently against his human mate's ear.

"I mean, after all, we're going to suddenly have a lot more free time, and you know what we can do then…?"

He left his words hanging, letting the hand that was drifting down Iruka's body, hidden under the covers, do all the speaking for him as it neared the man's hip.

"…Baka…"

There was a small mutter but no more resistance as Iruka flushed a pretty pink, and to Kakashi's perverted delight, didn't push him away, but instead let himself snuggle closer, burying his head happily between a hard chest and a soft pillow.

Worries assured for the moment, he quickly drifted off to sleep.

Kakashi peered down at the sleeping man, but didn't make any more moves. He sighed lightly.

Maybe tomorrow then.

After all, they'd already had quite a few rounds that night; his poor Iruka-koi must be worn out.

He was a generous man; they could wait until morning.

With that happy, pacifying thought, Kakashi slipped off soon after.

* * *

Dawn came early under a summer sun, rich golden beams bathing everything from the trees to the skyscrapers from top to bottom. Birds, as always, insisted on greeting the morning with a song, twittering as they hopped from one perch to another, well over the heads of the early riser's, who were just setting off to another day of work and the daily grind.

It was an idealic scene, any left over mist from the night before quickly burning up under the blue skies, still tinted with a faint pink that outlined the skyline with a sharp clarity.

A certain blond, however, wasn't too keen on the weather, as pesky shards of light pierced through the window, through shutters and right into his face, making it all the harder to slip off back to that pleasant dream. He grumbled deep in his throat and nuzzled his head further under the covers, as if to seek refuge in their dark depths.

He was just so _comfortable, _in a way he'd never experienced before- his body delightfully heavy and the sheets wonderfully smooth against his skin. And there was the nicest smelling warm thing to lay against; this was, undoubtedly, _heaven._

Well, it would be, if only that stupid light would go away.

He groaned, unaware of the pout forming unconsciously on his face, and attempted to bury his head further under the warm thing to his left.

There was a strange rumble from below him, which at first made his nose twitch, and as it continued, he entire face scrunched up as with confused, bleary eyes he squinted against the light, a vague shape slowly coming into focus.

Once it did, several things quickly became apparent.

One, the strongly gripping arms looped around his waist _weren't _hisimagination. Nor was the hard body pressed intimately against his own. Secondly, the reason as to why the sheets felt so nice was probably due to the fact he was completely naked- as was his companion he might add.

And lastly, Sasuke's amused eyes were peering down at him, partly obscured by the thick dark lashes that were bent against the dawn light.

Upon realising all this, Naruto couldn't fight back the blush as he squirmed a little, testing Sasuke's hold and finding it to his secret delight to be rock solid. Unfortunately, his movement also highlighted another fact; a rather sticky one that practically glued them together.

At the reminder that he'd lost his virginity just last night, and to _this_ man, he simply gave a contented sigh and let himself huddle deeper in the covers, plied right up against his dear mate.

He was embarrassed, just a little, but mostly he was happy- exhilarated, excited.

He'd had _sex._

He'd had sex with Sasuke.

That was enough to make him grin sloppily into the pillow, feeling contentedly boneless and happy to just lie there forever.

He clutched onto Sasuke's forearms, inhaling deeply the scent that went with him. Dimly, he could hear the Uchiha purr, a soft rumble that sent his lids drooping. He could have easily fallen asleep again if not for the blasted light spewing through the window.

He groaned out loud.

"I dun' wanna get up," he whined unrepentantly as he snuggled closer to the youkai beside him, feeling Sasuke's arms tighten around him.

Sasuke didn't say anything to that, but instead nuzzled his head, burying his nose in golden strands, a rough tongue occasionally darting out to swipe at a tan cheek or ear.

It was kinda ticklish, and soon he couldn't prevent the breathy peals of laughter from spilling out his mouth as he wiggled and ducked his head to get away.

Sasuke stopped purring and gave him a somewhat affronted look, which Naruto gave one glance before bursting out into laughter again.

He couldn't help it- god, he loved Sasuke.

It wasn't long before he was silenced by a hot mouth latching slyly onto his own, but the blond took it easily in stride, flicking his eye's closed as he kissed back lazily, more than happily falling back on top of the Uchiha, straddling his hips, all tangled up in the bed covers.

He felt a warm buzz settle deep in his chest; a general contentedness that ran much further than only skin deep. He was so…happy.

They pulled apart slowly, noses rubbing together, eyes dark and unusually soft. They stayed there like that for more than would be considered normal, strange, unspoken things passing between them over the short distance.

Eventually, Naruto glanced away, letting himself flop down next to his mate, staring crossly at the ceiling.

"I still don't want to get up, you know. Yeesh, we even have to go to school, don't we?"

Sasuke's gaze was an amused one as he stared down at the moping fox, and he couldn't restrain a chuckle or two at the blonde's nearly injured expression.

"We don't have to go anywhere today," he replied smoothly, voice still rough from the activities of the night before. "We can just stay in bed all day if you like…"

His suggestive tone was cut off as Naruto frowned at the ceiling, and Sasuke couldn't help but feel a little put out as the blond continued to ignore him in favour of white paint.

Frowning himself, he called questioningly.

"Naruto?"

"Hmm?"

Blue eyes turned to him, wide with innocence. Initially filled with incomprehension, it took a good few moments for him to catch on, and for those eyes to widen and then progressively narrow in thought.

"Oh, right…Well, I was just thinking about it…" the blond started hesitantly, this time staring at his fingers rather than at Sasuke. He dimly noted that the nails seemed pretty much the same as ever, not long and sharp like last night, and wondered about it distantly.

"I mean, I guess it would be pretty strange for me to be in school today. After what happened last night."

Unseen, Sasuke's jaw tightened, immediately knowing that Naruto wasn't referring to their pleasurable coupling, but to the events that preceded it. His previously softened eyes hardened to granite.

Meanwhile, besides him blue eyes were fuzzy as memories danced across his vision, taunting him with their contents.

"Sasuke," Naruto said suddenly, finally turning properly in the bed to face him, peering up at him imploringly.

"That man, last night- he was one of the hunters, wasn't he? He…he was trying to kill me."

It was really a statement, so Sasuke didn't bother to comment, instead focussing on not destroying the sheets between his fingers as he was forced to relieve his thoughts of the previous night. He'd hoped for a peaceful, relaxing morning with his new mate, and already it was going in the very direction he least wanted it to go. He growled inaudibly in his throat, reminding himself that it wasn't Naruto's fault. Of course he would have questions- you didn't have an attempt on your life and not. It wasn't Naruto's fault he didn't know anything.

"Sasuke, what is going on? I want you to tell me everything- everything I need to know. I hate being in the dark all the bloody time!"

Sasuke started, immediately fixing Naruto with a sharp gaze, knocked out of his thoughts on this very subject. He saw serious eyes, a stern grey, messy golden hair sticking in all directions and firm whisker marks above gritted teeth.

Swallowing thickly, he turned away, not saying a word, eyes flashing.

So what if he didn't want to talk about it? Why would he want to remind himself that he could have lost him? Lost him before he even had the chance to have him?

And so he didn't say a word.

Naruto clenched his fists at the action, and he lowered his own gaze, chest stinging in a way that made his breath catch. Why wouldn't he say anything?

Why, after all this time, all they'd shared together- last night- and still Sasuke couldn't trust him?

_How could he not trust him?_

Why did Sasuke still show him those cold eyes, that infuriating solemn face, after everything?!

He felt angry tears well in his eyes, and moving before Sasuke could react he lunged and gripped the other's head tightly between his hands, nails sharpening into claws that bit into the Uchiha's skin. He rammed their foreheads together, eyes boring into one another as they were once more in close proximity. Dark eyes had widened, but Naruto felt no satisfaction in their surprise.

"Why, why do you _do _this Sasuke?! What is so important that I can't know, what are you hiding?" he demanded in a thick voice, determined not to start shouting for once.

He felt something snap as Sasuke still looked at him with glassy eyes. He thumped their heads together repeatedly, mindless to the pain in his frustration.

"Why do you still keep trying to block me out? Who do you think I am!?"

His eyes stung ominously and only burnt the harder at his irritation that he could cry. Instead, he glared fiercely back, seeing his upset reflection in those dark, jet black voids.

Finally, dark eyes melted from their ice, and forceful hands came to wrap themselves around the blonde's wrists, prying them free.

"There's nothing much to say, Naruto- you know that the tenmakashi murdered my family, and now they tried to destroy you as well. They thought you were vulnerable, with no higher ups or contacts to help you out. And so they went for you. That's it."

Naruto stared searchingly; ears ringing with that numb voice, and promptly slumped where he sat, on his knees. The sting in his chest faded, leaving a tired hollowness in its wake. His entire body felt heavy.

He watched as Sasuke seemed uncertain as to what to do with himself, and finally he turned away, setting his feet on the floor, perching on the end of the mattress.

Shivering in the sudden cold, Naruto stared at the pale back, feeling his heart melt.

Sasuke…just wasn't good at these sorts of things. Annoying, but also kinda cute in a way. In a Sasuke way.

He sighed, Sasuke looked pathetically lonely over there, a bit like a chastised animal. All silent and brooding.

And he called him an idiot.

Sasuke tensed in surprise as he felt a body press behind him, arms wrapping round his waist. He turned his head back, just enough to see a golden head resting gently between his shoulder blades.

"Do you love me, Sasuke?"

If the question surprised him, he didn't show it as he gazed fondly at the fox.

"Yes… Very much."

The words were quiet, soft, but rang with a sincerity that almost frightened him.

He was rewarded with a smile he could feel against his back, and then a force as he was pulled backwards to fall onto the mattress, the both of them bouncing a little.

Eyebrow raised, he turned to meet a beaming blond.

"Na, na, we don't have to go to school today, right? Or at least, we could definitely go in late. And the sun woke us early too, so we've got plenty of time, ne?"

Sasuke looked at him, bemused, but nodded anyway.

Naruto's smile turned downright sly, a playful flicker to his blue eyes.

"So, then, we can have some fun, right?"

He was answered by a lustful smirk, and his only warning was a pair of flashing dark eyes before he was gleefully pounced upon.

They fell off the bed in a tangled heap of bodies and blankets, hitting the floor with a flump, and a chorus of hiccupping laughs, followed by a low, deep growl.

This was promptly followed by an indignant yelp, and the poor pile of sheets and duvet shook as the two hidden inside fought against each other.

There was a fleeting flash of red, a flick of a furred tail as moans and breathy grunts began to fill the room.

By the end of it, the sheets were unsalvageable, if not for the damage, then most definitely for the stains.

* * *

"Oi, blondie! Heads up!"

"Hu-ow!"

"Your face!"

"Kiba!"

Dark eyes watched with rapt amusement as Naruto simultaneously rubbed his abused forehead and glared at Kiba opposite. The boy in question just gave a cheeky grin back in response, and left the blond to mutter as he swiped the hard cover, but mercifully thin book off the floor.

Kiba was just lucky that he hadn't left a dent in the fox's forehead. And that it was sufficiently amusing to see Naruto in all his dobe glory.

Nevertheless, Sasuke gave the boy a warning look before turning back to the mumbling blonde, who was going through several profanities in differing combinations.

"That hurt, that bastard…che, frickin' dog…"

He was still rubbing the spot tenderly with two fingers as Sasuke gripped his hand, gently, but forcefully moving it away from the slightly red skin.

"If it hurts that much, I could always kiss it better?"

Sasuke was puzzled as his most innocent question was received with a dirty glare and a surprisingly painful elbow in the stomach. Causing him to hunch over on the rickety wooden structure the school tired to pass off as a chair

In response, it was all the Uchiha could do to twist the hand in his grip, ignoring Naruto's little 'ah-ah-ah' mantra of pain and plaster the blond to his chest, making the blond slide off his own chair in favour of sitting practically in his lap. Which was more than enough to have the youkai purr with possessive delight. Especially when the little fox tried to squirm away from him.

Foolish kitsune.

The other's watched them in utter bemusement.

"Teme!"

Ino blinked rapidly.

"Not exactly the poster for new couples are they?"

They watched intently in a group as Naruto wriggled to escape, stamping repeatedly on the older boy's foot. And then in turn as Sasuke practically tackled him into an arm lock. The high ceiling, empty classroom echoed with the muffled sounds of their scuffle.

"Oh, I don't know," Kiba, mused thoughtfully, rubbing a hand along his chin in mock contemplation, "they've definitively got the whole 'married fight' thing down."

The show continued as Naruto managed to break free, only at the expense of Sasuke being able to press him up against a handy nearby wall. They were nose to nose, and, completely irrationally, the violence instantly disappeared into another sort of passion as, much to their audience's surprise, Sasuke leaned down to pull Naruto into a furious kiss. And the blond moaned in turn, hands easily finding purchase among thick dark strands.

"Oh yeah," Kiba nodded sagely, "definitely."

Shikamaru shook his head before turning away without a word, and took pity on a red faced Hinata by engaging her swiftly into a laid back conversation about shogi.

"…Sas-…ugh…..ahhh…"

Her relief was evident.

Other however, were having more trouble tearing their eyes away from the increasingly lewd scene. Sakura was swiftly developing goo-goo eyes as she watched raptly, unable to look away, unmindful to even Ino's half hearted swaps at her shoulder.

The pair were on the verge of grinding when they were thankfully interrupted as the door to the classroom they were using during break was swung inward, and Neji walked in. Elegant as ever, he practically glided across the wood polished floor, the sun glinting through the tall windows, making his dark hair glow richly, and shine.

"Neji-niisan!"

The older Hyuuga had paused half way across the room, eyeing with no small amount of disgust the pair of youkai physically attached to each other against the wall. His pale eyes narrowed, and the lines around his mouth tightened considerably.

He cleared his throat with all of his clan's dignity and was rewarded as Sasuke and Naruto finally parted, the fox gulping in air, cheeks red while Sasuke merely sent him a dark look.

"You shouldn't be doing that on school premises- anyone could see it," Neji bit out frostily.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes further as he straightened, absentmindedly pulling Naruto up with him, letting the blond smooth himself out as he blushed cherry red under the stern gaze of his 'sempai'.

"I wasn't aware that you cared so much, Hyuuga."

Sasuke could feel Naruto's confused look pass between him and Neji, obviously not understanding the sudden hostility between the two, but he paid it no mind as he refused to break gazes with the Hyuuga male.

Instead, he ushered Naruto to sit at one of the abandoned desks with the rest of the group, never breaking eye contact with Neji's pale stare, refusing to back down. The tension built enough in the room, it was on the verge of uncomfortable, and while some of them in the room shifted in their seats, others could only trade confused glances.

Naruto looked about ready to open his mouth, but was thankfully distracted into conversation.

"Don't mind him," said Kiba cheerily with a jerk of a thumb, "he's just obviously not getting any. Unlike you or Sasuke, eh?"

The fox flushed, and sputtered indignantly before launching a tirade at Kiba's perverted nature, managing to draw the several others around him into the conversation. As he waved his arms about to make his point, he completely forgot about the two cold youkai in the room with them, who had moved and were now talking in low, unheard voices at the other end of the room.

Neji felt the dark gaze sear through him, measuring him up and down, but refused to show any discomfort as he motioned Sasuke to a corner of the room.

Sasuke was a formidable demon already, but he wasn't hailed as the genius of the Hyuuga clan for nothing. And the Uchiha's violent temperament was something he'd become adept at avoiding- so he felt no fear at the dark cloud hovering over his comrade's head.

"Was there something you wanted?"

Despite the black burning fire in his eyes, Sasuke's voice was as frigid as ever, his face frozen into a passive stoic. It was quite the contrast, Neji noted as he ignored the question at face value, instead letting his gaze slide over the other's shoulder, letting it come to rest on the loud blond who was being held back by a frustrated Ino to prevent him from pounding Kiba into a desk.

"I see you've been enjoying your honeymoon period," he paused a moment, shifting his gaze back just in time to see black eyes flash a warning red. It was almost amusing.

"Though that's no reason for you to become…lax."

The Hyuuga momentarily basked in the power of being able to get under the Uchiha's skin. It used to be nearly impossible, until recently, when now all he had to mention was a certain blonde's name.

If Neji didn't know Sasuke personally, he would have thought it weak.

The Uchiha gritted his teeth.

"If this is about that hunter…"

"It isn't," said Neji blandly.

Sasuke snapped his jaw shut, and waited impatiently for the other youkai to continue. It could practically be felt, the restrained ire bubbling under the Uchiha's skin. Neji couldn't say he could quite understand it, this new change, _difference_, in his old acquaintance, but he dealt with it the same as any other previous Uchiha temper tantrum.

"Though I do have to say it's a prime example of what we need to talk about."

Taunting a bit more.

"Oh?" a raised eyebrow, as Sasuke leaned nonchalantly against the wall, arms folded across his chest.

"Yes," intoned Neji, a little disappointed, but mostly glad to see that Sasuke had at least some reign over his anger nowadays. It could be rather bothersome at times.

"I was told to notify you that the elders are calling a meeting, to discuss the tenmakashi, among other things I believe. You should know the time and place."

There was a hiss as Sasuke sucked in a breath through his teeth and looked elsewhere, brow furrowed as his eyes glassed over in dark thought.

As he watched the reaction, Neji couldn't quite deny his curiosity. He'd never been allowed in on these special, secret meetings between the heads of the remaining clans. He himself was not even the next heir to the Hyuuga's. Sasuke however, had taken up the role after his family's unfortunate passing. And, as instigator of recent…events, the young Uchiha had been in close contact with the elders of youkai society for quite a while.

He wondered what exactly it was that went on in those detailed conversations they held, and why Sasuke had such a look on his face. Perhaps, the Uchiha was to be put under pressure at this upcoming meeting, or more likely, they were to discuss matters that Sasuke wanted to avoid.

He watched his old associate keenly. He'd known Sasuke since they were children, and they'd got on- to an extent. As close to friends as they could have, and he liked to think he knew the Uchiha well enough to know that there was more than one devious machination going on inside that twisted head of his.

Uchiha Sasuke was also a genius, though perhaps one from the other side of the coin.

He waited in anticipation for some revelation to come forth, but Sasuke didn't say or mutter a word, and even his tumultuous expression quickly wiped right off his face, leaving a blank, grey slate behind.

Revealing nothing.

Neji sighed internally in frustration.

Sasuke had a lot more answers than he was letting on; he had grand plans that he was hiding till they came to fruition- he was sure of it. Sasuke would never enter something blind; he certainly wasn't one to foolishly make unnecessary risks. Not anymore.

There had to something in his mind, some plan, that would stand up against the humans that hunted them. Some sort of remarkable scheme.

But Sasuke would reveal nothing.

Neji wondered for a moment if even the elders knew, but quickly dismissed it. They wouldn't. They were old most of them, too old now and would underestimate Sasuke, and most of the younger generation as a whole.

The Hyuuga couldn't be sure if he should be relieved or worried by this knowledge, but he too, said nothing of his thoughts.

He would have to trust in Sasuke until the time came when all was revealed.

Even if it took years.

"Hey, bastards! What are you whispering about?"

Instead, he inclined his head and was acknowledged with a sharp look of understanding.

Without another word, he walked over to join the group silently, taking a position next to Hinata-sama.

And Sasuke settled down next to Naruto, ignoring the blonde's loud prods for information as he pulled the fox to his side with an animalistic grip on the blonde's waist.

Dark eyes connected with curious blue, and Naruto fell silent, letting the subject change around him before letting himself be tucked under the Uchiha's arm, mindless to Kiba's crude catcalls.

The rest of the day passed by with no more unusual occurrences.

* * *

**A/N: So, hope it was good. Sorry if there were any mistakes, its late over here and i couldnt face going over it again, lol. Next chapter will be a lot more action, thrilling in fact. Would love some feedback for this , until next time, ja!**


	24. The Bloody Sun Sets

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**A/N: Hi! Sorry about the delay on this chapter. I'm suffering through some severe technical difficulties at the moment, both with the technology and myself. Stupid internet. A prime example is that this is being posted for me by my loveliest beta, who's been very patient and helped me get this chapter done on your behalf. I'm sorry to say this chapter was a good 2-3 weeks delayed- even longer than I thought it would be! Thanks for all your kind reviews! And I hope you enjoy the following despite the wait :P!**

**Warnings: Fluff…and violence!**

* * *

**The Bloody Sun Sets**

The once cold, lonely apartment, stationed on the top floor of the Uchiha building after only a few days, was already buzzing with a hitherto unknown amount of life. Lights would be turned on in almost all the rooms, noise would always be coming from somewhere, and the cold hard leather of the sofa's was finally getting worn into softness.

It was the weekend, and Naruto hummed a little to himself, completely out of tune as he walked down one of the long hallways, a large basket full of washing held awkwardly in his arms, Iruka's nagging still ringing in his ears.

He absently snagged a couple of lonely socks off a radiator, and continued, bare feet slapping against the polished wood floor.

The sharp echo of running water didn't seem to penetrate his mind as he wandered further down, and he certainly didn't notice it stop, a few last drips of water smashing against ceramic.

The only thing that really registered was that there was another rail in the bathroom with washing to be collected, and that though closed, the door wasn't locked.

"Argh!"

A scream, a thud, and the slam of a door echoed ominously through the apartment, followed by a cheery "Gomen, Naruto-kun!"

Naruto stood frozen, staring at the white panels of the door in front of him, basket fallen to the floor, several cloth items strewn over the dark boards. His mouth was still gaping as he shook in place. He didn't even notice when a curious Sasuke made his way down the hall.

"Naruto?" the Uchiha asked tentatively, seeing the blond with such a strange look on his face, blushing furiously, and eyes glistening.

There was no reply, except a breathy little sigh, and frowning, Sasuke took his mate's shoulder's into his own hands, shaking the fox until he looked at him.

"What the hell's the matter with you?"

Sasuke felt his breath catch, as Naruto turned wide, gleaming blue eyes towards him, cheeks painted a cherry red.

"..I saw it…"

Sasuke blinked.

"I saw…his _face…"_

Sasuke couldn't help but blink again, before he realised just who Naruto had to be talking about. He sent the bathroom door a look of horror, before jerking the blond in his arms.

"What?! What d'you mean, you saw it? What's so good about it anyways- get that look off your face!"

Naruto stared at him blankly, before a silly smile split his face.

"Iruka is one lucky sensei…"

Sasuke growled in response, but Naruto simply wriggled out of his grip and meandered down the rest of the hall to the living room. Sasuke stalked after him, his feet padding against the wooden flooring.

The laundry basket was left forgotten.

"Why the hell were you looking like that?!" he snarled out through gritted teeth, a seething look taking up his face. Naruto should only have that look about him, dammit!

Naruto turned around to face him, leaning against the back of one of the sofas. The blush was mostly gone and his eyes had gotten a squinty look. The expression caught him off guard for a moment, and Sasuke didn't quite notice the sly smile pointed his way.

He did notice, however, the tan hand that came up to cup his face. He peered down at Naruto blankly, only to see him smiling sweetly.

"You're so cute when you're jealous."

And with that magnanimous statement, he kissed him on the nose. And Sasuke couldn't help but go a little cross-eyed to glare at it.

Of course, this made Naruto burst into hysterics, leaning against the sofa arm to keep him upright.

His laughter soon turned to a yelp as he was pounced upon with a growl and pinned on the sofa.

They tussled a little, but quickly ended with Sasuke on top, nuzzling his face into a tan neck as Naruto struggled to catch his breath through light chuckles. Naruto placed a hand on top of the soft black hair of Sasuke's head, and tilted his own head back as Sasuke lay a few lazy kisses to the sensitive skin of his neck.

They both paused a moment, lulled into silence, with only the distant sounds of Iruka pottering around in the kitchen to disturb them.

"So," said Sasuke "what does it look like then?"

Naruto broke out into joyous laughter once more, almost choking as he shook his head from side to side, eyes tearing up. Sasuke couldn't help but grin at the sight and moved in to kiss those supple lips, only to have his head pushed away playfully by a hiccupping Naruto.

He snorted under his breath and merely ducked under the hand to capture his fox's mouth.

Naruto moaned and promptly melted under his touches, and it soon descended into a proper make out session, the both of them uncaring to the happenings around them.

They were only disturbed a few moments later by a dreamy sigh originating from the other side of the room.

"Ahh, young love…"

Sasuke lifted his head, only to glare daggers at the casual figure of Kakashi, whose mask was back to where it should be, with only his somewhat damp silver locks showing that he'd been in the shower only recently. He was smiling so brightly, his single visible eye was all closed up, and Sasuke narrowed his glare.

Unfortunately, he only managed to make Kakashi giggle obscenely as he made his way to sit across from them, snagging a bustling Iruka who'd been innocently walking by, and who gave a squawk of indignation as the freshly ironed clothes in his grip tumbled to the floor as he was hauled off to the sofa. Both Sasuke and Naruto watched in quiet amusement as Iruka tried to smack Kakashi round the head, only to get further tangled up with the man.

"Maa, Iruka-koi, you almost act as if you _didn't _want me to molest you!"

"Kakashi!"

The red on Iruka's face was bright enough to warrant a stop sign, but Kakashi, in all his pervetedness, didn't seem to notice.

"Hmm, Iruka-koi, I didn't think you were that eager for me."

Iruka stopped squirming instantly, looking absolutely mortified.

Sasuke felt a small smile tilt his lips as Naruto burst into silent laughter underneath him, the chuckles making the both of them shake.

He pulled up the blond so they were sitting side by side, or rather; Naruto was sitting on him, and threw an arm about the blonde's shoulders, to ensure he wouldn't try a naughty escape.

He couldn't help but lick a little at the tan neck that was presented to him from the position, nor the little kisses and love bites he left there, either. Feeling Naruto's breath hitch against his lips was more than enough for him to continue his escapades.

But Kakashi, his nemesis, had to interrupt, just as the fox was about to start moaning.

"Sasuke, it's getting late- we have to go."

At least the other youkai also sounded somewhat disappointed as he was forced to put poor Iruka down, who looked very much as if he'd just been subjected to a very thorough stop search.

With a heavy sigh, Sasuke leaned his head back and poked his mate in the side to get him off.

But Naruto just wrinkled his nose and refused to budge.

"Eh? What are you talking about? The sun's not even gone down yet!"

Sasuke bit back a sigh and nuzzled the downy soft golden hair that clung to Naruto's nape, feeling frustrated for the first time that he had to leave the apartment.

"There's a meeting tonight, of the clan heads and elders, that we have to attend."

Naruto blinked.

"A very important meeting for all youkai," added Sasuke when it was obvious Naruto comprehended little of what he just said. He watched as light dawned in blue irises.

"Ooohh. You have meetings?"

Naruto looked cute with his head cocked to the side like that, Sasuke thought stupidly.

"Yes," he muttered under his breath as he shoved the blond off his lap. The blond hit the floor with an ungraceful flump.

"Bastard," groused Naruto as he rubbed his backside, which had come into harsh contact with the cold wooden floor. He felt a little better as Sasuke took his hand to lift him up, though he tried to squeeze the hand in his grip as painfully as possible in return.

Sasuke didn't seem to notice.

"It shouldn't last too long, a few hours at the most. We'll both be home well before midnight."

"You'd better," grumbled Naruto, who flumped back onto the sofa cushions, with an almost pouting expression as he peered up at the other male he had the great misfortune to be mated to.

_Bastard._

"So, it's you and Kakashi going?" he asked blithely as he wriggled into the still warm couch, trying to make himself comfortable, "Why can't I go with you too?"

Sasuke sighed as found his jacket, fingering the rough material lightly.

"Because. You have to be a head of a clan, or invited. Normally, I'd still be too young to go myself, but due to certain circumstances, it's my duty."

"Oh," mumbled Naruto blankly as he frowned, lips twisting in contemplation.

"But you'll probably go to some of them in the future."

Naruto perked up, almost visible as he turned to stare at Kakashi, who'd suddenly spoken up. He missed the way Sasuke turned sly onyx eyes towards the silver haired man as well.

"Oh yes," he smiled, his voice light, "I mean, you are Sasuke-kun's wife, for all intents and purposes you know, Naruto-chan. So when you're a bit older, it'd be perfectly eligible for you to join your husband, who's the head of the Uchiha clan."

Kakashi beamed, and Sasuke froze. Iruka, who'd been watching patiently as the conversation went on, backed slowly away from the sofa as a grey silence descended over the room. It was almost possible to _see_ time slow, as the room filled with more tension than being left in a small room with a rabid dog. Or perhaps a fox.

Naruto's gaze had become hidden by the way his golden bangs flopped over his forehead, and his lips were white.

"Husband…" he whispered solemnly, "_wife_…?"

The blond seemed to tremble, his entire body shaking before he leapt up in an explosion that made even Kakashi blink.

"_Nani?!_ What the hell are you talking about, you stupid mask-wearing-weirdo-pervert! _Wife?! _What do I look like to you- a woman?! Like fuck I am- come back here so I can kill you! How dare you run away! How about I cut off your own balls eh? Who'd be a woman then, huh? _**Huh?!"**_

Sasuke and Iruka watched with weary, resigned faces as Naruto proceeded to try to catch and decapitate Kakashi, who was effortlessly avoiding the incensed blonde's mindless lunges, not looking the least apologetic.

"Maa, maa, Naruto-kun, I only meant that as the uke, you're obviously the wife in this sort of situation."

"Argh!"

The sofa was soon tipped over, and a lamp crashed to the floor as Naruto gave a battle cry and skidded off down a hallway after an unrepentant Kakashi.

Iruka winced from beside Sasuke, but said and did nothing for the moment, only sighing forlornly through his nose. Almost in a sort of regret before his expression turned steely.

"Kakashi, you're such a child," he muttered murderously, before proceeding to give chase after them, calling out for them to "Stop this nonsense, _right now!"_

Sasuke watched them go, feeling an indescribable warmth lodge somewhere in his chest. He really should find this annoying; all this running, and pointless noise and mess, but he couldn't help but feel…content as his house was turned upside down right in front of him.

For the first time in a long time, he felt he had a home, and not just a house.

Naruto, what are you doing to me?

* * *

The room was large, the high vaulted ceiling only stopped by its need to be stable within its underground prison of hard rock, hidden under the streets of Tokyo city above. Carved out of stone, it was cold and dark, or would have been, if not for the flaming braziers placed around its circular walls.

The light, sandy coloured walls were decorated with half worn patterns; intricate designs twisted into elegant flowing script that may have been letters and words, or nothing but meaningless scribbles. It was enough, however, for the light to flicker over them ominously in the firelight, making them appear to chase after each other in a never-ending circle.

There was only one visible entrance, the heavy metal door set on large hinges, and just as intricate in detail as the walls. It was dull and grey with age, the writings practically weathered to illegible, but it was an imposing gate nonetheless as several dignified men walked under its arch.

To be honest, Neji thought it was all far too dramatic, to still hold these meetings in the old refuges from before their demon ancestors went into hiding, but who was he to say anything?

This meeting had called all the clan heads, elders and then some, and this old place was still hidden, even if it were underground with the dirt and the cold and the dark.

How fitting for them all.

Neji shifted in his seat, the only thing modern in the entire place, and kept silent in the oppressive atmosphere; though he couldn't tell if it was from the room, or simply the presence of his uncle by his side.

He felt some gratified anticipation as he waited patiently for the last to settle themselves, but also had to refrain from chewing his tongue in nerves. Something unpleasant was squirming around in his gut, and despite how he tried to reason it off, it refused to shift.

Instincts could be so bothersome.

He settled himself as calmly as he could, flicking his gaze towards the man that was his uncle only momentarily.

Hinata should be here.

As the next clan heir, it should be her job to come, sit and learn how things were to be done by her father's side. Instead, she was left at home, an afterthought, and he, Neji was brought instead- considered a far superior Hyuuga only in terms of strength.

Neji was left with no delusions; he was here only because he was useful, and a useful tool could only do so much while in ignorance.

However, the bitter taste left in his mouth was tempered by his own curiosity, and he let his gaze slide once more, in the opposite direction to note the presence of the Uchiha, who was sitting, appearing almost bored in his chair, a lonely little island with empty seats vacant beside him.

Kakashi was nowhere to be seen, though Neji knew him to be close by, and no doubt, listening in.

The rest of the monstrously large, round table was full to the brim, only the odd chair here and there glaringly empty.

He felt his anticipation build, knowing the calls to speak would soon begin. He would, naturally, remain silent, but he was much intent to find out just what this summons was about. He hadn't been to any previous, and so had only filtered knowledge of the koumajutsu, and of the running mechanisms of the old council, but he was sure he knew enough to keep up- and hopefully to find out some things for himself.

The room was full of aging youkai, many of which were now too old to appreciate the awakening affects of their blood; they were weak, with only the fuzzy memories of ages past left in their heads.

Neji couldn't help but feel some resentment to these elders, who were so unwilling to let the young have any say, when they were the ones who held the true power in this new, modern age. But the clans were long lived, and stuck centuries past into tradition.

The very reason why he himself, though the stronger candidate, was not the clan heir but instead Hinata remained so. And yet, he was the one brought to the meeting, and Hinata-sama left to remain in the dark.

Neji felt something roll in his gut as he surveyed the men around him, nearly all carrying sufficient grey hairs. There was something off about all of this. Hinata had been brought along to those previous, and yet not to this one.

And as he noted across the table the elders who had called the summons, he felt his unease grow. This meeting was undoubtedly about the hunters, but, for the first time, Neji feared that the turning point had finally come.

The heavy doors swung shut, trapping them inside with only a small gust of dust and the meeting was called over the shimmering sound of a gong.

Several metres above them, where the streets lay and trees grew and buildings crowded the skyline, the sun began to set, colouring the sky rich flashes of yellow, and orange, and swathes of bloody red.

Neji ignored his tensing jaw, as one of the near decrepit elders took a stand, hidden away under swathes of cloth. Silence fell all around, the room near humming with anticipation.

"You all know why you have been called here today," the man's voice was rumbling with age, his words near breaking but the hush echoed round the room as if he'd been yelling. "To discuss our stance against the hunters of old, and our new position in this world…"

Though softly spoken, the words seemed to reverberate sharply, a screeched ringing that was curbed only by the thick walls of stone around them.

The old man made a soft noise in the back of his throat, peering intently at all of them through dull grey eyes, his colleagues sitting primly beside him, mirroring his own stance with an aged sort of integrity. Finally, he turned to face the emptiest space in the room, fixing his attention on the last remaining of the Uchiha clan.

Sasuke, unlike practically everyone else in the room, still retained the bored look on his face, not even bothering to straighten his slouch as he leaned an elbow on the table, returning the stare with nothing but apathy.

Neji heard his uncle's teeth grit.

To Neji though, he still looked a bit young despite his ease, and the empty space either side of him was more than simply conspicuous. It was hard for him to think, that the Uchiha was already the equivalent of married, and more than happily too.

But the moment passed as quick as it came.

"Uchiha Sasuke," the man's old voice crooned in authority, "you have stood before this council many times in recent years despite your age, and you are acknowledged for your use concerning the koumajutsu, that has brought us to this heightened position of power."

Not a flicker changed Sasuke's face, while others in the room shifted, in what Neji could easily discern as irritation. It seemed that Uchiha could manage to rile anyone; he repressed a smirk at the daring of his old friend.

Indeed, even the old man's lips were thinned, and his gaze sharpened, along with his tongue.

"However, as we are all aware, our existence has been brought to the attention of the tenmakashi, an organisation sworn to eradicating every one of us. As the instigator of many of these recent events, Uchiha-san, the council can't help but wonder what plan you had of dealing with this threat."

Silence reigned in the hall, suffocating in its grip as the declaration hung unspoken in the air. It was enough to get Sasuke to shift in his seat minutely.

"I don't see why you're looking to me- trying to shift the blame perhaps?"

The thin smile fell flat, and there was an outbreak of discordant mutterings from the other side of the room. And the elder himself refused to break from his impassive staring contest with the young Uchiha demon.

"Tch," snapped Sasuke at length, "the tenmakashi have never forgotten any of us- they would be hunting us down regardless of the koumajutsu or not."

More mutterings sprang around the table; it was impossible to tell over the hushed whispers whether the assembly was in agreement or not.

"No one is denying that the hunter's have been forever on our trail- we are well aware, Uchiha-san, of the great tragedy that befell your clan only recently. However, there has been a marked increase in the number of attacks- and the death toll. The council was merely wondering, Uchiha-san, if you had any suggestions to the problem."

The elder was met with hard dark eyes, which gleamed like polished gems in the flicker of firelight behind. The face was blank, and hadn't even twitched at the mention of his dead clan.

"I've done more than my fair share," the Uchiha said blankly, "there are many more called here, why not ask them?"

The old man narrowed his eyes but a little, closed lips trembling, before he nodded his head. An equally old, grey haired woman spoke up from beside him, the beaded ornament in her hair jangling as she tilted her head.

"That is enough," she called out, voice rasping, "the point has been made. We are here to discuss the future of the youkai- not squabble. The council has already thought on how we are to move forward. A decision that must be ratified by the heads of the clans."

The statement was met with the greatest set of murmurings yet, and other voices soon called out of the thrum. Neji could barely keep his head still as his eyes darted about.

"Oh? So the Council has already made its great and _wise_ decision?"

"And here I thought this would be a discussion…"

"The council would have all the facts required to come to a proper and fair conclusion."

"They haven't lead us wrong yet."

"And what do you call this?! Cowering away underground like a bunch of filthy dogs?!"

"Let's hear what the have to say, surely the Council is there for a reason!"

The entire congregation looked ready to explode at each other in an instant, jumping at the chance. A writhing mass of discontent. Neji felt disgust well up in his chest; was this really what the once grand youkai were reduced to? Fighting among themselves, like the old busybodies they were?

Pitiful.

Feeling his face twist, he turned to stare at Sasuke, undoubtedly the youngest present. His face hadn't changed one bit- as if he were used to such discordant displays.

The thought that this was how meetings were always conducted was enough to burn the tip of his tongue. No wonder the hunter's were ready to run rings round them.

"Enough!"

The bark rang out, parting silence in its wake.

Another elder had taken a stand, a look of satisfaction spread across his wizened face as the room headed his call and fell to silence at last.

"There is no time for this simple argument. The tenmakashi have been allowed free reign for far too long; we've been hidden, for far too long. No matter how we come to it, there is only one option left to us, as all my esteemed colleagues will agree."

The man's jowls quivered as he paused, eyes roving the room to find everyone's attention fixed upon the matter at hand.

"The youkai must stand united against the ravages of the future. We must go forth into this future unblinking, without hesitation, and make the youkai race great once more. And we must start this new future, by destroying the tenmakashi."

There was a pause as all seated shifted, unsettled in their seats. The safety of inaction had long been the standard, and the now the veritable taste of revolution was in the air among them.

The elder spoke once more, words gravid in the most ancient hall.

"We must make war against the hunters that would see us all dead."

Neji felt his eyes widen, white fingers taking a death grip on his chair. The response around the room was electric, a clamouring of noise, and some even rose from their seats in great outbursts. Though Neji didn't hear or a see a single thing.

_War?_

A full out war?

Was this serious- was this _real?_ Surely they couldn't. Not in this day and age, with humans crawling all over the world. With so many places to hide, and not be found. Surely, this was the hard way?

The foolish way.

The very thought of going into a war left a gaping pit of unease to settle heavily in his stomach, like a lead weight of dread. So many died in wars. So much suffering to come. Surely they could just disperse themselves, and deal with any hunters as they came?

Surely, this was madness.

The last thing he wanted was to waste his young life away with fighting.

Feeling an unknown desperation take a hold of him, Neji turned to the last in the room. But Sasuke showed not a jot of emotion on his pale face. The Hyuuga barely resisted a depreciating snort. Of course, Sasuke wouldn't object; he had his own score to settle, and was selfish enough not to care what anyone else did- or what it came to. This decision, in all likely hood, only served to favour his own plans.

He felt a burst of irritation, but settled for grinding his teeth together instead.

An elder's call echoed above the restless mass.

"We've been inactive for far too long- the great powers of the youkai are forgotten! Do you think the tenmakashi will allow us to live? Allow us to exist? We must attack before they can take a great hold, while they are still unprepared against our true force. Only then is there a chance for us to live in peace once more!"

There were mutters- a lot of them. Grudging and discontent, but in agreement all the same.

Neji glanced frantically around the room, alarmed to find so many agreeing to the proposition. He even glanced up to his uncle, only to see an unreadable face; but no opposition.

His gut twisted and he stared down at the table in front if him as realisation clicked softly into place. So this was why he was here; the strongest demon in the Hyuuga, he would be wanted to fight. He didn't know how this war of theirs would take form, but he would have to fight all the same.

Fight, and protect others, like Hinata-sama.

For a delicate soul as she, wouldn't have even been able to stand the outcome of this meeting, let alone to fight anyone.

He swallowed thickly, and tried to come up with some founded reason to not do this- some other way.

He felt all the more sickened when he could come up with nothing.

He tried to listen to what was now being said, but his ears wouldn't focus. He instead stared at Sasuke, the only one he really knew in the room, who had said nothing, his face blank as ever. Though if Neji had to assign an emotion to that man, he would call it resignation.

Biting his tongue, Neji knew he had to do the same.

No one would listen to him here, and more- he didn't even have a suggestion to give them in return.

He was about to descend into helplessness; the blurry sounds of voices all meshing into one great big chorus when the room _shook._

A room, many metres below ground, carved out of solid rock, _shook._

And not a little, but enough to send chairs sprawling to the ground and for pieces of sand coloured rock to fall from the ceiling like leaves off a tree, littering the table below with dust.

Neji felt his eyes locked wide as he scrambled to hold onto his chair as the room- _shook. _He hit the ground with a smack, but was numb to any of the pain as he stared, with sick horror at the ceiling as thick, gaping cracks ran through its age-old stone.

Wide eyes stared at each other in the aftermath. The hope that it was nothing but an earthquake, not impossible in the least, gleaming in more than a few eyes.

"That was not an earthquake," an old voice called out from the ether, and the statement echoed true as another blast shook the room, the sounds of shouts now echoing down from outside the heavy metal doors.

And that was when fear pervaded the room.

Most of these men and women had never had any real power to call their own; nothing more than humans who had an old claim to demonic blood. Fear of their own mortality still ran rife through most of them.

Even he, young and usually confident in his own prowess, experienced an animalistic fear grip his chest as he scrambled out the way as more, big slabs of solid rock fell from the ceiling, sending him darting across the floor, dust rising in plumes where he fell. An unearthly sound of rock crashing into rock filled his ears and for one terrifying moment he thought he couldn't breath.

Stumbling to get to his feet and clinging to some broken wood that had been part of the table not two minutes ago, Neji saw nothing but chaos, and for a moment he thought he'd been sent to hell itself. Braziers had overturned, spilling oil and flames in their wake, and distorted faces in the dark, full of fear and pain, leered from all sides.

His body was frozen, his mind slow as it desperately attempted to grip the situation. One moment he'd been sitting, in a sacred, secret hall, and then, literally one second, _one second_, later, they were under attack.

Blinking dazedly, he stared at the pandemonium around, only to spy a dark figure darting by. Close enough, he could see the face of Uchiha Sasuke; one who was not stuck in immobility, and was rushing towards the heavy metal doors.

Body feeling numb and sluggish, even as his brain, now catching up began to go into overdrive, he first stumbled, then walked, and then ran after the one recognisable figure. His body felt clumsy as he evaded panicking, faceless men, and skirted round still falling rock, only stumbling a little as another blast rocked the room, eyes set on reaching the doors.

He reached them, tumbling to grab onto them at yet another shake of the building, hands blithely slapping against the dusty old engravings in desperation. His legs felt weak, and for a moment he thought for sure he'd fall to the ground but he firmed up his muscles, gripping the metal tightly between white fingers.

The shouts from outside were louder, and with only the best of enhanced hearing did he make any of it out.

"They've blown the main tunnel, and heading down fast!"

"What of the traps-!"

A thudding scythe, and the thick, wet sound of blood being spilled.

"Doesn't matter, there's too many!"

"Retreat, down to the hall!"

There echoed a far off scream down the hall, and the pungent, coppery scent of blood bloomed from under the doorway.

He pulled his head from the door just as the metal was slammed violently from the other side, with enough force to have knocked him out. The metal clanked on its hinges and the sound grated through the hall.

"Let us in! For god's sake, _let us in!"_

Voices filed with terror bled through the door.

There was a small rush to open them.

He looked to his left, to find Sasuke, a wild look in his eyes as he moved forward to screech the door open but a fraction with some nameless others. A few ragged men were emitted, falling through the minimal gap as if it were salvation itself and falling harshly to the floor. There was a tangle of groans, their faces stark with bright red blood, dripping off their skin to stain the dusty floor below.

The same demons at the door rammed their weight against it, in order to close them as soon as possible, before their hunters could reach the tiny corridor that led to the hall.

Unknowing what else to do, Neji instantly jumped to help them, gritting his teeth as his body jarred as the metal dug cruelly into his flesh. There was a shocking clang of metal, and instantly there was a panicked flurry to barricade the now closed door. Pulling back, he was shocked to see Kakashi from the corner of his eye. The youkai had a serious look on his face, both eyes open and revealed to all in red and grey, his silver hair a little charred at the ends. There was blood seeping through his clothes, and Neji could only discern that it wasn't the youkai's own by the smell.

"Sasuke," he uttered hurriedly, " hunters."

The smell of humans and acidic metal, built just for slicing through demon flesh.

That was all that was needed, as dark eyes closed to an eerie hardness.

Before he knew it, Sasuke was moving away from the door, the message that the tenmakashi were here, spreading through the room like wildfire. As if it could have been anyone else.

"They've broken through the top entrance- they're armed to kill!"

"Ambush!"

"How did they find us?!"

"As if that matters right now!"

Several voices snarled out before orders were given, a frantic call from somewhere in the dark.

"Take the passageways out, and loop back. These foolish ningen have forgotten who the more dangerous is. Kill any you find on sight and disperse!"

A thick banging echoed on the metal door, shaking more dust and stone from the ceiling, the hinges groaning as they were put under the strain of a vigorous battering.

There was a flurry of activity, hidden exits bored into the bedrock brought into sight as there was a scurry to get out. The thick banging on the metal door only served to prompt their escape, the scent of blood already lingering in the air like nerve gas. Neji watched some go with a blank stare, nothing but numbness as he saw his uncle disappear down a dark, narrow tunnel and out of sight.

He was revived as a boulder fell from above, a huge crash, and darting round it, Neji found his way to Sasuke's side, perplexed to find that that Uchiha was shaking, though he knew instinctively it wasn't out of fear. He was staring with a strange gleam in his eyes, a twisted look on his face at the doors.

Almost as if he was daring them to come to him.

Jaw setting, Neji didn't hesitate to reach out and grab an arm. He was unfazed as he saw sharp jaws snap at him.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Neji snapped at him.

Sasuke glared at him with full force, red eyes spinning dangerously as claws lengthened.

"What does it look like?" Sasuke hissed back, jerking his arm violently out of the other's grip.

"Don't be stupid! Other's are here for that! What do you think you're going to do? Kill a couple, but then get overwhelmed by numbers and die?" Neji snorted, even though he was hurrying, a deep sense of urgency to _move, to get out, _colouring both his voice and actions. He'd never felt more claustrophobic in his life. "Oh yes, what a dignified end to the Uchiha clan."

Sasuke hissed in reply, and tried to pull back, but Neji replaced his grip on the Uchiha's arm with a vengeance. Foolish, baka Uchiha. And here he was, trying to save his miserable hide while wasting time in this hot, blood filled hellhole that was just waiting to snap up their lives with hunter's banging on the door. Obviously, he was just as mad as Sasuke.

"I can't just run away- not any god damn more!"

Sasuke's face was twisted, an unsettling glow in his eyes; a pure viciousness that Neji couldn't deny, and that sent shivers down his spine. He'd been told from an early age that Uchiha youkai could be especially violent, but he'd never really understood. Now, Sasuke looked on the verge of going positively rabid.

The scent of succulent human flesh, just waiting for the ripping behind a simple, flimsy door was probably too much for his crazed blood lust to take. It was enough to see the tremble to his shoulders, the fangs slipping from between parted lips. Neji swallowed, but remained firm.

"And what good would dieing do anyone? We don't even know what they've planned. For all we know, this could simply be a distraction. Tenmakashi are probably crawling all over this city. This is an all out declaration of _war!"_

Sasuke said nothing, just stared at him as intensely as before, and for one horrible moment Neji truly thought the Uchiha would rip off his arm, just to be free.

But before that could happen, a most peculiar change overcame Sasuke, his face paling, even as his eyes began to spin even faster than ever, a dark growl reverberating out into the air.

"Naruto!"

And with the sound of his displeasure, anger and bloodlust still echoing in the air, Neji felt his hand go limp as Sasuke tore out of his grip, and dashed not to the metal door but instead down a narrow passageway and out of sight, runaway fires making his image appear to shimmer, and for a moment he thought he saw a devil rather than a demon.

He stood, blinking for but a moment before another damning impact hit the doors, the ancient metal's old enchantments falling weak as the doors buckled, the metal twisting grotesquely. They were almost through.

Neji didn't waste another moment, and he rapidly followed suite out one of the back doors, body working overtime to get out of the underground prison as soon as possible.

He spared a lingering thought to where Sasuke had gone, but didn't dwell on it for long as the sounds of more angered yells drew his attention. He felt his nerves stiffen, the scent of blood overwhelming as he felt his own inner beast clamour to break free.

Sasuke had someone to protect, and so did he.

Who knew, if they'd found Hinata-sama.

* * *

The only sound that echoed in the long, dark tunnel was his own harsh breathing. There was but the slightest glimmer of light showing the fading daylight outside, and he felt the muscles in his legs clench and push with his every running step, capturing him in some strange vertigo.

Sasuke could feel the rumble of rage bubbling in his chest, but pushed it down with difficulty.

_Soon, _he crooned inside his own head, _just wait a little longer, and we'll feel the blood flow under our claws, watch it gush down…_

He panted, a pink tongue darting just into view, as it practically tasted the blood and promise of violence in the air. It sent his body crazy with the desire to rip, and tear, and _kill. _

Soon…

He could hear the beating of his own heart inside his head, the push of his lungs to meet his demands as he ran much faster than any human could ever hope to achieve.

His fists clenched and unclenched sporadically, serrated claws ripping into his own palms, sending fine rivulets of red down his pale skin, but Sasuke paid it no attention.

The only sane thought left in his head was Naruto.

A beautiful, kind-hearted blond, with the most dazzling blue eyes.

He could almost imagine him, right now, sitting on lime green grass, under a painted blue sky, those plump pink lips spread in a sweet smile, his intoxicating scent ensnaring all of his senses as that tan skin was pressed intimately against his own.

It was an ideal image, and one that only brought guttural rumblings to his mouth.

Naruto. His mate.

The man he-… the man he loved.

His family.

He gritted his jaw tightly, and even the teeth on either side of his canines began to lengthen into long, sharp ripping fangs.

Those fuckers had tried to take away Naruto once before, and almost succeeded, and now, they were attacking again. And all he could envisage was while he was stuck fending off some meaningless ningen, Naruto was slain, his sweet blood marring the dirty floor. Maybe even on the bed where he'd finally taken the golden fox as his own.

He could see it in his mind's eye. Those innocent blue eyes wide in surprise, a sound not even given the chance to leave those pink lips. And those same eyes dulling to a bleary grey as blood seeped around his head, a halo spread through the golden locks as it dripped everywhere.

_Everywhere._

Just like it had, _that night,_ when all there was to see was blood everywhere, running in the streets, in his home, on his parent's faces, on his brother, on his hands, all over himself.

_Everywhere._

His teeth practically cracked as he grit them.

No!

He wouldn't, _couldn't _let that happen again!

He was just getting the chance to start rebuilding his lost family, and hadn't he promised?

Both himself and Naruto, that night when he'd nearly lost Naruto the first time?

That he'd protect him, and not let those fecking little shits take something important from him ever again.

As much as he wanted to, as much as his body craved to tear into the cowardly ningen that slaughtered his family, show them his meaning of pain, Naruto came first.

After all, what Neji had said, that this could all be a distraction, was very likely.

Focus the important members of the youkai society somewhere, while taking down the other's one by one, as told by those stupid lists of theirs.

Like hell he'd let them make a fool of him again.

His first priority was Naruto, everything else was secondary. Best to hold on to what he had, then revenge something long lost.

He gasped out, feeling his lungs begin to burn. The tunnel wound around under the streets of Tokyo city before coming up to the surface, and it was long- so very, infuriatingly _long!_

He snarled under his breath and kept going, feet slamming against the mostly smooth incline of the tunnel floor. It was cold and damp, but unremarkable as he climbed ever higher.

He wasn't even entirely sure where this one came out. Somewhere in the city, but where was a mystery. And in such a large metropolis, it could easily prove difficult to reach Naruto in time.

But he would, he had to.

He could still feel the soft press of the blonde's lips against his, the feel of that warm body pressed up against him, secure and safe within his arm's. He'd laughed with him only a few, meagre hours ago. He'd thought- he'd really had thought he would only be gone a few hours, back soon to his mischievous fox, with no calamity or drama whatsoever.

How could things possibly go so wrong, in so short a time?

He felt his heart thud pathetically in his chest, the scarred, shrivelled thing unable to cope with the thought that he wouldn't see Naruto again like that; smiling, cheerful, and alive.

"Che!"

He spat from his mouth, a scowl twisting his features almost beyond recognition as his eyes gleamed dangerously in the dark. If anyone else had been there, they surely would have been frightened beyond repair as the bloodlust singed through the air, like a dark swirling mass.

As if he'd let that happen.

He wasn't a child anymore. This was not the time to fear, or anything equally ridiculous.

He'd find Naruto, kill anyone who got in his way, and then proceed exactly as he had planned, long ago in the confines of his study. Of course, a few small alterations, but all in perfect working order. He'd just have to enact it sooner than he initially planned.

He felt the fading blood red light of sunset wash over him, hearing the shouts of violence up ahead.

With his mouth parted, his white teeth gleamed the same dying red as the sun, his eyes full of a wicked flare.

They'd be blood…

_Everywhere._

* * *

**A/N: Fun, ne? Things are really about to come to their climax! In fact, next chapter should be the last chapter- another very long one too. And after that, the mysterious sequel I have well planned will come in kukukukuku. I hope you enjoyed it, and I wait eagerly to hear any feedback, fight scenes are always hard. The wait for the next shouldn't be nearly as long, so stay tuned, ja!**


	25. Starry Night

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**A/N: Final Chapter! I hope you enjoy, its been a long road, thanks all for your glorious reviews! Info on part 2 below!**

Warnings: Graphic violence and yaoi.

* * *

**Starry Night**

Naruto hummed to himself, completely out of tune as he fished some more clothes off the floor as he finally picked up the long forgotten washing basket, the straw wicker crinkling in his hands as he strolled leisurely through the lofty apartment.

The dying rays of the sun were gleaming in through the large glass windows that stretched from top to bottom along the narrow hallway. The sight was so impressive, Naruto couldn't help but pause to take in the view; the sun was dipping below the horizon in a blaze of red that stretched far out into the sky, where at the edges purple and blue were encroaching upon it like spilt ink.

The last beams of orange light made his blond hair sparkle a luxurious gold, not that he noticed, and he wondered what Sasuke was doing right this moment. He was still a little annoyed that he hadn't been allowed to go with him, but he was able to console himself that if it involved a bunch of old bags nattering on and on, then he wouldn't want to be there in the first place.

"Naruto!"

Sighing under his breath, he altered his grip on the wicker basket a little and padded off from by the window, leaving the view behind him as he trotted off glumly in the direction of the kitchen.

He was just stepping down a random wooden step in the middle of the hallway when there was a great _lurch, _and he was sent flying to the ground, basket full of clothes meeting the floor for the second time that day.

He hit the floor with little grace, and slammed against the wood heavily, caught by complete surprise.

"Ta-ta…itai…"

He rubbed viciously at a spot on his arm where he had fell and turned to stare accusingly at the floor that had turned to what felt like quicksand just a few moments ago.

He frowned as he looked at the clothes strewn across the floor.

Iruka was going to get mad for getting them dirty again.

But…what was that? An earthquake? He'd felt a couple before, considering he lived in Japan, but he had never felt one quite like that- it was over way to fast for the amount of shaking.

Maybe it was just because he was in a building, and not in the mountains like he was used to?

Confused, he stood, not bothering to pick up the clothes, but instead turning to find the kitchen, wanting to check that Iruka was all right.

The sounds that had been coming from there all afternoon had stopped, and as he got closer Naruto felt his feet slapping the floor faster and faster until he paused in the threshold of the doorway.

He blinked, but there was no Iruka in sight- despite the way several of the kitchen appliances hummed.

But before he could think or consider anything else, Iruka was bursting back into the room, a panic stricken look on his face.

His face was pale, and he looked absolutely terrified.

That was when Naruto first registered something must be wrong. Not when the blast or whatever it was hit, but when Iruka, acting as if the demons of hell were on his tail grabbed his shoulders with a desperate cry and immediately tried to move him out the room for no discernable reason.

"Iruka!" he cried out in confusion, and not a little pain; the way Iruka had a death grip on his shoulders, he thought they might pop out their sockets.

"We need to get out, out of the building, its not safe!"

"What?!"

Naruto had never felt more out of the loop as he did then, being physically herded by a positively disturbed Iruka out the front door. The normally paranoid man didn't even bother to lock the door behind them or bring or touch anything, and was practically running, pushing Naruto along in front of him.

"What do you mean its not safe-?!"

His words were cut off as another blast rattled the building, in a way that suggested this one was much closer. Some plaster fell from the ceiling and the pair were forced to bang and cling to the walls until it was over.

Blinking against the mist covering his eyes, he heard Iruka cough from beside him, before he felt a forceful arm push at his back from nowhere, causing him to nearly fall down the stairs.

He got the picture though, and stumbled and staggered his way as quickly as possible down the seeming never ending flights of stairs, Iruka pushing him from behind at all times with a desperate urgency.

"It's the tenmakashi," raved Iruka with wild eyes as they tripped their way down the stairs in haste. At Iruka's words, Naruto almost pitched over the railing.

"_What_?!"

What the hell was going on?!

From behind him, Iruka nodded, his head bobbing like a float on a stormy sea.

"I don't know much more than that," hissed Iruka with extreme anxiety, "but we need to get out of this building- we can't get trapped here."

"But," spluttered Naruto, as they practically flew down the cold concrete steps, "but- you mean they're coming after me again?"

He didn't see the way Iruka bit his lip or the way his eyes darted around.

"No- I don't think so anyway," he said hurriedly, out of breath and panting, as he didn't slow their pace any, "I think they're attacking everyone."

"Everyone?"

Iruka didn't say anymore for a while and Naruto could only focus on one step after another as he was shepherded down the stairs. He didn't understand- everyone? Did that mean all the youkai in the city, or…or what?!

He didn't get what was happening so suddenly- hadn't he been picking up the washing just a minute ago? What was happening to make Iruka act like this? There had been a couple of shakes, but nothing really dangerous, why was Iruka so terrified?

It may have been the tenmakashi, but it seemed all too far away, far too improbable that they'd attack like this, in broad daylight!

Well, not daylight exactly, he amended as he glanced out of the few passing windows in their rapid descent, it was easily turning to dusk already, but surely they didn't have the power to get away with this sort of thing?!

The government, or something would quickly to put a stop to anything public- they wouldn't even know what this was about.

He half expected to already hear sirens in the background, but there was no such thing.

As they finally reached the ground floor, Naruto was half beginning to expect that Iruka might be going mad when the first sounds of screaming began, terror colouring the voices.

Shocked, Naruto glanced across the wide space of the marble lobby to see a whole crowd of people running outside through the glass doors.

And around them inside the building the few staff members left were panicking, holding trembling cell phones, glued to their ears and one or two were even crouched under the reception desk.

Mouth open, he gaped, and was stilled of all movement until Iruka grabbed his upper arm none-too-gently and pulled them across the lobby area and out through the doors.

The first thing Naruto felt was the wind, which blew dust into his eyes and forced them to close momentarily. When they opened, it was onto pure chaos, people running everywhere; it seemed to have caught all the workers heading home after a long day and now they were dashing to and fro, some standing still. Garbled voices rang out here and there and the sheer mass of people seemed to act as one mass.

The question that seemed to be on all their lips was the same.

'What was happening?'

Naruto couldn't make any of them out and it was a surprise when Iruka jerked once more on his arm, leading them down the steps, holding on tight as people bashed into them like a great tide they had to fight against.

It took Naruto a moment, still looking around him in shock to hear that Iruka was speaking to him.

"- to go, and leave here. I think I know a place we can go…oh Kakashi, where are you?"

Naruto looked at him helplessly, limbs numb and his mind feeling weak.

People were starting to scream around him and he couldn't bring himself to move, or do anything. He wasn't even thinking properly.

He watched as Iruka wrung his hands in anxiety before him, head darting to and fro above the crowd, as if trying to find someone, or find a way out.

And then his eyes widened, and his mouth opened, and Naruto couldn't even tell what it was that he said, or even what he was trying to say, only that he'd never seen Iruka-sensei with that look on his face before.

That was the very last thing he thought before the world went black, the sounds of shrill screams and metal the last thing ringing in his ears.

…

All he saw was black.

His thoughts were hazy and slow, and his body felt like it was made of stone rather than flesh, it was so heavy. He couldn't bring it to do anything.

He tried to lift an arm, and his fingers only twitched. Or at least, he thought he did.

He couldn't see anything, and his body felt weird, strange like it was numb. And heavy- really heavy.

It was cold.

A low, guttural noise made its way through tight lips and a closed throat, and the sound echoed painfully in his own ears.

It was enough at least, to know he wasn't dead; not yet anyway.

He gave another groan, but still his vision was block black, even though he was sure he'd pried his eyelids open.

Why couldn't he see?

His thoughts were starting to become less hazy and more coherent as he began to panic.

Why couldn't he see?!

He blinked vigorously, as if that would bring back his sight and for an agonising while nothing happened. Instead, he started to become aware of other things; like the way his body actually _hurt, _and that there was something cold and hard pressing against it.

He tried to shift against whatever it was, but there was no luck, he was effectively stuck wherever he was.

But finally, his vision started to sway, fuzzy outlines starting to take shape as he was brought to fuller consciousness. It was hard to open his eyes against the light- which made him want to close them- but he persevered, and colours began to emerge, and shapes.

But when he could see again, he didn't know what to make of it.

All he could see was the paved ground, and a tiny triangle of blinding white light.

Nothing else.

He started to pant, his chest tightening as more panic bubbled in his stomach. The heaviness was starting to shift into pain, and as he tried to shift again he almost screamed at the pain that was seizing his entire body. Especially his head.

As it was, he couldn't help but let out a pained groan, more like whimper and a couple of rebellious tears fell to the dusty ground he was pinned against.

"Naruto!"

His ears perked in hope as he heard his name screamed out from somewhere around him.

He heard footsteps and finally strange sounds echoed in the tiny space he was trapped in, like stone shifting against metal. It was jarring and echoed sharply.

"Naruto!"

But soon, light was flooding him again, and some of the weight pressing down on his body was removed. Hope filling him, he tried shifting again and was rewarded with success, as he was able to sit up, body numb as it twisted.

Though, it came with a price as he immediately clutched his head, which was throbbing with a fierceness that left him dazed.

"Naruto!"

Scrapped hands clung to his shoulders, and his head tilted just enough to see who was holding him.

"…Iruka…" he managed to mutter.

The brown haired man smiled weakly and immediately began to pat him down for injuries.

For once, Naruto made no move to complain or try to stop him.

Fingers fussed over the tan hand clutching his head and Naruto finally relented, only to hear a gasp.

"Oh my god, you're _bleeding_."

Fingers pressed gingerly against the rather large head wound that was staining Naruto's golden hair a bloody red that was dripping all across the fox's face in dirty streaks, dust sticking to it.

"It's okay, they always look worse then they are," Iruka worried, failing miserably at trying to reassure himself, "Naruto, do you feel dizzy at all, or sick? This seems to be the worst, oh thank god you're alive…"

Naruto squinted at him in confusion, before he swivelled his aching head gingerly, battling dizziness to see that he was sat in the middle of a field of what looked like boulders. As his eyes focussed he could see that it was closer to broken masonry, with a mix of glass shards and shafts of wrecked and twisted metal that could easily run a person through.

There was also fire; a burning that was filled with something that smelt a lot like petrol that made his nose itch fiercely.

"A part of a building exploded," commented Iruka distractedly as if reading his mind, and for the first time Naruto noticed that Iruka had scratches all over him, his clothes were torn and he had a gash on his arm, "it was like a grenade or something, I don't know…we have to get out of here!"

Iruka then dragged him up out of the rubble, small bits of plaster falling off the blonde's clothes in clouds.

They both hobbled out of the debris to flatter ground, opposite the Uchiha building.

A lot of the people had disappeared, and the others that remained were nothing but faceless blobs swimming in and out of the range of his vision.

Iruka had wrapped an arm around his shoulder, as if to give him support. Night had settled over them; Naruto dimly wondered how long he'd been out. The fact he'd nearly been crushed by an exploding building seemingly unimportant.

Instead, he stared at the building that had only been his home for a very short while.

"-It's going to be okay Naruto, we're going to go, somewhere safe and we can get your head seen to and- Naruto?"

The blond had brought up his hands and pushed against the man's chest, managing to separate them by a good foot. Limp blond bangs, full of dirt and steadily drying blood, swayed over his face, hiding his eyes.

"I…I gotta…" he clenched a fist tightly, taking the pain it caused his cut palms to bring determination to his body, " I have to go find Sasuke!"

Iruka stared at him, taken a back for a moment before frowning, face contorting in exasperation.

"Naruto," he scolded, "Sasuke can take care of himself just fine, _you_ need to come with me and find somewhere safe!"

The man reached out to try to take the blonde's arm once more but Naruto managed to evade the grab, blue eyes burning in ferocity.

"No! Sasuke went to that meeting, and I'm sure that that's what those fucking hunters were after, I have to go find Sasuke!"

"Naruto, be reasonable, you have no idea where he could be, and you're just putting yourself in more danger to go looking for him!" Iruka snapped, "Do you think that he'd want you to go risking your life for that?!"

Naruto reeled back like he'd been hit and stared speechless at Iruka before an ugly scowl broke out over his features.

"Don't you try to tell me what he'd want! Especially so you can get your way!"

This time it was Iruka who jerked back, stunned.

Naruto set his jaw.

"I'm going to go find him- you can go to somewhere safe, but I'm not leaving my mate all alone!"

The blond began to turn and Iruka reached out desperately.

"Naruto- listen to what you're saying" he said, pained, "surely you can't- Naruto!Come back, _Naruto!"_

It was all Iruka could do to watch as Naruto began running away from him, off towards hunters waiting for him. Off running towards Sasuke.

The man couldn't even bring himself to move and follow after him as he saw the last of blond hair whip around a corner.

And then he was gone.

* * *

The wet, gouging sound of rendered flesh filled the air, blood splattering in thick red showers to stain the grimy tarmac on the road.

Any last scream or gasp of life was stifled before the body hit the ground, boneless limbs spread haphazardly.

Sasuke's lip curled in some distaste as he stepped over the body of a young human that had got in his way, along with many others.

It had been nearly an hour already, and he'd hardly managed to get _anywhere!_ The streets were full to bursting with a chaotic mix of youkai and tenmakashi. At times, it was impossible to distinguish the two from each other.

It was hell around him, flames burning brightly and fighting occurring wherever one would look; shiny metal weapons clashing against claws and growls.

Metal went whizzing right over the Uchiha's head to crash and burn into the side of a building nearby, but Sasuke paid it no attention as he made his way through, trying to get down the street almost sedately, taking his time to dodge around the masses of bloody people, and avoiding the various flying lethal objects just waiting to impale him.

It was a strange scene to find amid the tall buildings, and bathed under sickly yellow electric lighting, when it appeared far more ancient in its simple brutality.

He frowned in frustration as his path was once again blocked by a hunter, who was holding a curved silver sword, the colour mostly disguised by the thick red sliding down the slippery edge as it was removed from a moaning body on the ground.

Sasuke didn't even spare the fallen youkai a glance; it was no one he knew.

His swirling eyes watched with a startling ease as the hunter, faceless and nameless swiftly moved forward in a leap, perhaps hoping to catch him off guard with his speed, but it was pathetically easy with his eyes to see right through it and simply turn to the side out of range, and with lightning speed reflexes reach out and grab the wrist holding the weapon.

Before the ningen could even begin to form a counter attack, he was at the mercy of Sasuke's sheer speed, his arm being bent right round until it could hold no more force and a sharp crack shot through the air as it broke cleanly in half.

The sword fell from a now limp hand.

Sasuke couldn't help the feral growl that resonated from his throat as he went with his momentum and spun right round, releasing the hunter, not bothering to watch where the man fell several metres away, head colliding with a post, knocking him out as blood trickled from his skull. Or it might have killed him; Sasuke didn't bother to think on it as he took the opportunity to slip further down the road, through a sudden opening of free space.

A growl rumbled deep in his chest; he was getting nowhere, and even the satisfaction of slaying young, inexperienced hunters was losing any ability to relieve his frustration. He had to find Naruto, and that goal seemed impossible with all the setbacks he kept on suffering.

He'd come out of the tunnel in the basement of a multi storey car park, thankfully near the exit.

But somehow, tenmakashi had staked out the entrance, and hiding behind cars, and dodging out the way of flaring explosives had taken well over half an hour to even get out onto the main street; some of his fellow demons didn't make it that far.

And then he'd been forced to cut his way through the hordes of seemingly limitless numbers of hunters. It hadn't been too difficult so far, considering there were plenty of other youkai to serve as a distraction, and that the hunters so far had been easy enough to cut down, young, inexperienced, probably never fought toe to toe with a demon before, let alone one of his calibre.

But, he knew that the more dangerous members had to be around, lurking somewhere, and he didn't like it one bit. If they weren't here, where were they?

His entire body rattle with suppressed rage at the thought they could be near where Naruto was. And despite that he'd managed to get this far, he wasn't completely uninjured, a thick gash on his side that was thankfully more flashy than deep, and he'd wasted precious strength with the sheer numbers of the little rats running around.

_Fucking humans._

He grunted in the slightest of pleasure as he finally made it to the end of the street, hoping to get out into the more spread out and empty surrounding parts of the city, where hopefully he'd be able to make better time.

But just as he ran round the corner, he was forced to dodge, skidding hard to the left to avoid becoming impaled with exploding building, deadly shards of glass and steel showering all over him as he was forced to raise his arms to protect his face.

The blow rang through the air, crackling the night air around it and the force it generated had Sasuke slamming into the rattling metal shutters of a closed shop on the other side of the street, his shoulder completely pinned by a long jagged piece of metal that had run him straight through.

He gasped out in both pain and surprise, warm blood gushing out from the wound to soak his clothes, overflowing to drip to the ground.

He hissed through clenched teeth, his entire body throbbing as he placed a trembling hand on the hilt of broken metal that was sticking out of his body.

He tested it with his fingers and cursed when he found it to have completely run through, all the way out to lodge him into the building behind him.

_Trapped._

Not to mention, it was excruciatingly painful; it took a lot not to cry out as he shifted, feet scuffing the ground as he tried to dislodge the shaft slightly so he could remove it easier. But the slight movement only made it sting his nerves even greater and he was forced to stop after only a few moments.

His grit teeth, with fangs digging into his lip, cracked under the pressure of his jaw as he bore the pain.

"Heh, not so grand now are we?"

He shot his head up, to find a hunter- a woman- walking toward him. She had a couple of friends too, still partly hidden behind a shoddy barricade of corrugated metal.

_Bitch._

He hissed once more in displeasure and spat to the ground in front of her, blood staining the concrete.

The woman didn't appear impressed or fazed in the slightest, only cocked an eyebrow that nearly disappeared under her purple hair. She grinned widely, eyes gleaming in sadism as she approached, now only a few feet away.

"Seems like you've got yourself in a bit of a spot there, handsome, why don't I help you out?"

Sasuke felt his face contort in anger as he began to renew his pulling; straining against the damned metal that was making his body weaken with pain.

She chuckled; sounding happy as she drew a shiny metal blade from the confines of her rather scandalous and revealing get up, which including copious amounts of fishnet.

She took the last final steps, lifting the blade high, intent on his throat, an artery, perhaps his heart if she was feeling like it.

Like hell he would let this bitch touch him!

But before he, or even she, could do anything, the woman was forced to jump back to avoid being hit with a set of gnarled claws, though they still managed to catch her cheek, sending thin trails of blood spinning in the air.

She landed just about upright, finding her footing quickly despite her surprise; she was obviously better trained than the average hunter.

"Yo."

It was Kakashi; the man seeming to have appeared from out of nowhere, and now was standing between the pinned Sasuke and the female hunter.

Sasuke grit his teeth together, and tsked, more than irritated; Kakashi didn't have to jump in for him.

But Kakashi seemed to have read his mind for he called out.

"As if I couldn't, Sasuke."

Sasuke growled, only further irritated, and in a fit of ferocious fuelled strength, placed his free hand on the metal and _pulled, _hissing only minutely as the steel shaft slid from his shoulder with resistance, finally leaving his body with a sickly squirt of blood.

Sasuke let it drop to the floor in disgust, even as his shoulder burned in agony, the surrounding skin fizzing as a dark black like chakra began to dance over the wound, the flesh already starting to knit back together now the obstruction was removed.

The clang of the metal as it dropped to the floor was enough to get the woman sneering, though the excited gleam in her eyes belied her true feelings.

Excited that more prey had arrived for her.

"Anko!"

The woman jerked, jogging backwards away from the two youkai, back towards the little barricade they'd set up as an ambush.

"Yeah, yeah, I know- go at 'em then."

She sounded almost grumpy, and Kakashi tensed, ready to spring.

"Sasuke…" he growled.

The Uchiha nodded in understanding, moving to be level with the other man, rolling his injured shoulder experimentally. It hurt, but it was healing well already. Satisfied he was no longer handicapped, he faced the little group of hunters head on.

They were obviously some of the more experienced, dangerous ones he'd only just been thinking about.

He was sure that he by himself could take them, so with Kakashi here it shouldn't be any problem at all, except that damn ningen seemed to have something up their sleeve, as the ominous sounds of clicking metal echoed from behind the flimsy barrier, the hunter woman keeping a keen eye on them as she fingered the blade in her hands appreciatively.

Oh shit…

Sasuke just managed to catch a glimpse of a gleaming barrel before he was jumping out the way, moving to desperately roll behind a large metal bin on wheels, that was full of scrap cardboard. Kakashi joined him not a moment later, grey hair being swept up in the breeze as a rain of bullets followed after them, rattling off the metal container like a swarm of angry bees and painting lines of potholes on the brick above them, sending showers of brick bits over their heads.

"Guns huh?" asked Sasuke dryly, as he irritably shook plaster dust of his shoulders.

Kakashi nodded, and absently lifted the headband that covered one of his eyes, revealing the red swirl of his Sharingan eye.

"This might be a bit tricky."

Sasuke snorted softly to himself as they squatted back to back, listening to the ricochet of metal on metal, prepared for a wait.

But, far earlier than either expected, the sound stopped.

Both paused their breathing, listening to the commotion going on somewhere only a few metres away.

"Why did you stop?! That thing won't hold up much longer!"

The screech was followed by a whimper, and a restrained sigh, all from different people.

"Anko-sama, we only have a limited supply of the specially designed bullets at the moment…"

An irritated sigh, and then the scraping of something on the ground.

"So we'll do this the old fashioned way? Good, its much better," the woman purred in reply, and blood red eyes clashed momentarily in understanding, before both youkai dashed out from their place in opposite directions.

The clash of sparking metal told Sasuke Kakashi was engaged with the woman. He focussed on the two other hunters, whom were only half standing, caught off guard.

Sasuke felt a smirk tilt his lips, as he easily punched through the corrugated iron like butter. It did its job and the two hunters jumped out the way to loop back behind him.

At least they seemed to possess some skill, he thought as he turned to face them.

Both had scowls and determined faces, but Sasuke didn't much care as he parried one, making the outstretched hand carrying a weapon glance by him, and being able to catch the other one right across the stomach, fisting his hand upwards to try to crush the man's ribs.

Unfortunately, the hunter managed to flip back, avoiding the fate of punctured lungs and Sasuke scowled as the one behind him tried to catch him with a blow to the head, which he managed to dodge simply by ducking, reaching out behind his back with reaching claws.

He felt them come in contact, ripping through cloth easily, but the purchase of flesh was unfortunately denied to them.

Hissing, Sasuke skidded abruptly to the side, getting the both of them back into his sights.

_Irritating._

But he barely dodged in time to see a blade slip past his cheek, the woman having lunged from the middle of her fight with Kakashi to take a stab at him.

His surprise was quickly overcome as he smirked at her.

Two could play at that game, as he twisted, trying to gut her right down the middle, he knew Kakashi was moving to take the twosome somewhere behind them, switching opponents as easily as water.

"Sasuke!"

Sasuke grunted to show he heard as he ducked out of the woman's lunging range once more, dimly hearing Kakashi collide with one of the male's by the pained cough from a human.

"You know what to do after this, right?"

Sasuke scowled, brow furrowing as he attempted to rake his claws all over the woman's infuriating face, but she managed to dodge once more, laughing.

"You just worry about your own responsibilities Kakashi."

The youkai didn't make another reply as he managed to flip one of the hunter's, making him smack right into the other one, the strength of the blow sending them both skittering across the road, groaning, but still conscious.

Kakashi took the brief reprieve to intervene with the woman Sasuke was fighting against, bringing up his long wolfen claws to clang against the blade in her hands, his claws easily matching the tensile strength of the steel.

He pushed on her, his strength more than a match for her, and pushing Sasuke out of range at the same time.

He growled out as he met her gleaming eyes.

"Sasuke, go now!"

Sasuke stood there, and stared at the form of the man who had raised him since he was a young child.

He caught the pair of males stumbling upright out of the corner of his eye, and he sent a fleeting glance down the length of the street, long and deserted and closer to his destination of finding his mate.

"No," he called out sharply, taking Kakashi's momentary flicker of surprise or whatever it was, to take his place, managing to backhand the woman in her side in the process, sending her to the ground, even as she scrambled back to her feet.

"I'll take care of this, you go."

Kakashi's mismatched eyes, grey and red, were impossible to read as several emotions passed over them at the speed of light.

He looked like he might protest for a moment, but another look at Sasuke's rapidly swirling red eyes, and he only gave a light chuckle.

"So, you're planning on using _that, _are you?"

Sasuke didn't answer him, turning his back to the man as he faced the three oncoming hunters.

Kakashi didn't waste any more time and ran his way down the street, only pausing at the very end to take a last look at the form of Sasuke's back as he fought off his attackers, his movements perversely slowing.

Not for the first time recently, Kakashi felt old, his tired eyes watching intently.

"You always were a scary kid, Sasuke."

Kakashi's parting words almost sounded proud as his silver hair whipped out of sight.

Meanwhile, Sasuke clenched his jaws together, having finally gotten a hold on the woman, immobilising her by a death grip on her arms; he was strong enough that that was enough to hold her down, though it had cost him a slash in the stomach for it.

However, the other two were more than free to do what they wanted with him stuck in a stalemate, and they wasted no time drawing their daggers of that special shiny metal.

They sank deep, right into the Uchiha's proud back.

The youkai gasped out in pain, agony even as his grip on the woman's arms became almost crushing. Blood splattered out of his open mouth, running down his lips and chin, his pale skin paling even further as his body finally began to struggle from blood loss, the deep wounds in his back and side gushing quite profusely.

The hunters finally felt some relief; it was clear that the youkai was done for.

So it was more than unexpected to hear something akin to dark laughter rumble out through the demon's throat, a malevolent sound that sent the hairs standing on end.

The woman looked at him incredulously, watching that Uchiha's back heave with his chuckles of pure dark mirth.

What a psycho…

Who would laugh as they die like this?

But before Anko could think anything else, she felt her arms being squeezed to a bone crushing point and as she gasped, fighting the pain, she was met with eerie blood eyes staring at her.

She watched, in a sort of fascination as the tomoe in his eyes began to swirl, faster and faster, becoming nothing more than a black blur.

Sasuke grinned at her, revealing his blood-stained teeth, the fangs curling and lengthening as the pure adrenalin in his system sent his body haywire, the need to repair itself overriding anything else.

He revelled in it as a pulse of bloodlust shot through him, burning a curse of the blood through all of his being.

The hunters could only watch in mute shock as the Uchiha's hair lengthened and thickened, taking on a strange texture as dustings of black fur crept from his hands up his arms.

The sounds of bones cracking echoed through the air like gunshots, and a roar of primal fury broke through the night to reach the heavens above where the stars dwelt.

Though it couldn't completely cover the screams that followed it.

* * *

Naruto stumbled under the sick yellow lights of flickering street lamps.

His bare feet scrunched against the broken gravel on the broken pavement, cuts and welts from shattered glass already healing over, leaving only the blood splattering the ground in his wake to remain as evidence.

His blond hair was plastered to his pale face, lips parted to gasp for breath, an unusual, rattling sound spilling from his lungs, like thick liquid. More red was splashed across his face, matting his hair further, dripping down his fingers to crust under his thick claws like rust.

He blinked numbly, eyes blinded by the flash and flare of an explosion of fire and sulphur up ahead somewhere in that misty distance.

The sun had set, but the sky was still streaked an eerie red, but Naruto took no notice, only pushing his torn body further on, even as his lungs burned and frothed unpleasantly.

Voices, loud and screaming echoed from behind a street or two, but it wasn't close enough for him to take any notice.

The civilian humans had long cleared off in a rush of screams and terror, leaving only blood to run down the streets for company.

His limbs were aching; he hadn't fought this much for…ever, he didn't think.

As soon as he'd left Iruka he'd run into nothing but trouble, somehow managing to come across hunter after hunter in the mostly empty streets.

He'd been able to dodge round a couple, but conflict was inevitable, but unlike that night when a snake had crept into his room, these hunters didn't have the same smooth and fluid movement. They weren't as experienced, and filled with purpose Naruto felt no fear from these humans.

His claws had grown from his fingertips in anticipation and he'd felt a strange pulse echoing around inside his skull that silenced most of his pesky, distracting thoughts.

For a few moments, it had all just been him and that sneering man in the way of his goal. And the promise of blood that hung in the air as a sweet perfume.

Like hell he'd let him get in his way!

The next minute or so then became a bit more hazy, but were filled with sounds; of tearing cloth, untamed growls he knew must of come from himself and that strangely delightful sound of rending flesh.

The hunter had been quite fast; but he'd been faster, easily ducking under lunging, open blows, and with creaking strength he'd taken a fist and planted it right in the man's stomach, and then watched in fascination as the straightforward punch sent the human flying, skidding and rolling at speed until he collided with crushing force against a very hard wall.

He fell and did not get up.

Naruto had then turned to stare momentarily at his still clenched fist, and tensed it, near giddy at the sense of strength such a simple thing held.

He hadn't gotten into another fight since he'd become a youkai, and it was near thrilling to start to see the effects in himself for the first time.

The pulsing in his head, the same thing that had red creeping into his vision, seemed to agree and he'd quickly started up running again, filled with a renewed determination and confidence that he wouldn't let anyone get in his way.

He'd been fine for a while after that, just picking up the odd scratch here and there, his brawling style easily overpowering those he met so far, though he was annoyed to see his wounds weren't healing as quick as he'd like.

But it was no real matter until he met someone who actually gave him trouble.

He hadn't expected it at all until he felt the sharp piercing metal slice through his own body- he moved away just in time to prevent a fatal blow.

His blood had still showered after him in a spray of red.

He'd stared in a strange wonder at it, never having seen himself wounded in such a way- it was even more than when that hunter assassin had slashed his shoulder.

It was such a rich colour, so pure, staining…

The throb in his head become louder and the hunter had stepped back, wary as blue eyes burned a hellish red and whisker marks thickened to black feral bands.

After that, Naruto didn't have too much recollection, until he was removing a hand topped with inch long, serrated claws from a man's abdomen.

He'd been surprised to find he didn't feel much as he stared down and saw glassy eyes.

And he didn't have much more time to dwell on it as sounds of movement from the next street over echoed over to him and he realised he couldn't pause, and he was off running again; in what direction, he wasn't sure.

But, the fighting was starting to take its toll, especially the blood loss; head wounds bled a lot, and the others he'd picked up, in his side, one across his back, had still given an initial profuse loss of blood before his chakra began to stem the bleeding as they began to slowly heal.

But not fast enough.

But all Naruto could think of, was finding Sasuke, reuniting with his mate, and he only began to take note of his battered condition as the steps it took to keep running, keep going became harder and harder to continue.

Physically, he was exhausted, his body shaking as he pushed it ever further; he had no idea how far he had come, only that he had to keep running onward.

_He hadn't found Sasuke yet._

His mind burned fresh with painful memories, and he paused a moment to linger on guilt, wondering where Iruka was; they'd fought last time they'd seen each other, only a few hours ago- or was it less?

He could only hope the human was alright, and that Kakashi had taken him somewhere…

Somewhere he had no idea about, but at least wasn't the hell he himself was trapped in.

He hadn't been thinking much when he'd been fighting; distracted by the almost liberating blood lust on his tongue, the pulse in his head removing all but his more primal thoughts to _rip, and tear, and bite._

But now, as his body began to falter, his more normal thought process was returning, leaving him full of turbulent emotions that he wanted nothing more than to ignore as they bubbled in his chest; he only wished to focus on finding Sasuke.

Broken glass littered his path, but he paid it no mind as it cut again and again into his feet, or when he had to dodge over the odd fallen pylon, or tree.

Fires burned everlasting out of the corners of his eyes, and he just kept running forward.

For all he knew, he was running in circles, but he didn't think so, he hoped so.

He had no idea how long he had been searching, but that didn't matter either.

All that mattered was that he hadn't managed to find Sasuke yet.

He'd keep on running forever just to find him, it burnt an imprint into his mind, trying to lull him into forgetting that he practically couldn't breathe, or that his thighs were burning in acid.

He had to be with Sasuke!

With that thought smashing through his mind, he felt one last burst of adrenalin rush to his lagging limbs, pushing his legs forward, pounding on the ground as he stumbled forward, head dipping as his body began to lose the fight to keep him going despite everything.

It was pure luck he didn't meet another hunter, he was sure he wouldn't be able to do much except fall over.

Even if he didn't want to recognise the pain, from his feet, from the lactic acid eating away at his muscles, or the banging throbbing of his head, the pain was starting to get to him, and the thick, heavy breathing would easily suggest that he'd broken a rib or two during the blast that threw him earlier, and now it was slowly but surely puncturing its way through his lung.

If he'd had known, he still wouldn't of cared.

He just…_needed_to find Sasuke, to make sure he was all right, to see him safe, so they could be together again, it made his eyes sting and his chest fill with a tightness that was a mixed jumble of sadness, anxiety, confusion and others he couldn't identify; but it was an uncomfortable thing and it made him feel desperate; as if he was running out of time for something.

It was nearly enough to overwhelm him in a tide of pointlessness, that this was a hopeless target of his efforts, and only thing that kept it down was something burning and passionate that was by far more overpowering than the negative senses could ever hope to be.

The whirring of something fast and burning echoed over his head- when it exploded in a white burst of flying metal, brick and flame, he only skirted it to keep running down a side street, jumping with all his remaining strength to easily clear a chain link fence, landing clumsily on the other side.

He took no notice of his feat, or when he ran blindly into a horde of bins, tipping them over; he just staggered free and put his legs into motion once more.

He almost tripped on exit, but arms flailing he managed to keep upright, not slowing for a moment.

He didn't care for anything anymore, only to find that one, most precious person.

_Where could he be?_

_**Sasuke?!**_

His laboured gasps for breath echoed dimly in his own ears, blood still oozing copiously from his unhealed head wound, despite the hiss of fiery, bubbling chakra at his skin.

His heart was beating painfully within the flimsy confines of his chest, thudding with a hurt far greater than the rest of his body.

His eyes closed in reflex at the loud commotion going on to somewhere to his right; he couldn't tell how far away it was. There were shouts, the whiz of something painful and deadly, and a primal roar of _something, something inhuman,_ that made the ground shudder under his precarious feet.

He barely remained upright, grabbing onto a wavering, thin wooden fence, finally pausing for a moment.

Gasping, he stared up, blue eyes as wide as an ocean, slits the only island and he saw the boughs of a sickly tree above him.

It suddenly occurred to him that he must be closer to the suburbs now, rather than the centre of the city. For him to have travelled over such a large place, it sent his head spinning.

He breathed thickly before pushing off the fence as the sounds from the right began to quieten. He couldn't help but wonder, on what _that_ had been; it sounded like an enraged monster- had that been a youkai?

His head was light, and dizzy from his blood loss, and he couldn't quite focus on his own question as he stumbled, his pace slowing by the step as he stumbled out into a main street, the dim sick yellow light bathing him in a twisted halo of light, dancing shadows over the drying blood all over him.

His mind was growing fuzzy, and his body was becoming difficult to co ordinate properly.

He took a few more hurried steps, but his feet were numb, as were his legs and it was suddenly very hard to stay upright.

He tried to keep going, he really did, but his body finally gave up on him as he tripped, hurling to the floor with no grace at all, skidding along the broken gravel and dirt on the ground, scratching his battered form even further.

Shocked for a moment, he lay completely still, the vision from before he fell imprinted on his eyeballs for a minute. He almost didn't dare to move, wondering if he'd managed to seriously hurt himself.

Then, with stiff limbs he tried to push himself up.

He got barely two inches before his arms gave out, aching in a way that was bone deep and he looked at them numbly, amazed that they wouldn't pick him up. He blinked, not accepting the information properly.

He tried again, but got no further than before.

_Dammit!_

He didn't stop trying, pushing his knees close and up to his body, trying to get some leverage, unwilling to believe that he'd reached his limit.

_Stop shaking, dammit!_

The tan limbs, covered in dirt, dust and blood were trembling so bad they were as useful as a newborn lamb's, but as hard as he tried, his body wouldn't stop shaking, wouldn't stop failing him.

_Get up! Get up, get up, get up, get up, __**get up!**_

But it wouldn't.

Unused to the strain, his body wasn't handling the influx of youkai chakra too well, inhibiting his ability to heal, and the adrenalin couldn't bring his limbs to move on nothing. Not anymore, when his body was suffering beyond its current limits, and despite his will, he was left sprawled on the ground, like a broken starling- his wings shattered so he could no longer fly.

He clenched his teeth, squeezing his eyes tightly shut in anguish as a burning sadness made his body heavier than ever.

Sasuke…I …I gotta find him…

He panted pathetically on the floor, and he had never been so disgusted with himself.

Move! Just…just get up!

He cried out in desperation, willing his body into motion, but like a puppet with his strings half cut, it was blinding agony and almost impossible.

Almost.

He screamed out in anger through grit teeth, hot tears making rivers down his face as he scrunched his body up, putting his all into standing, resolute that he wouldn't give in; not to his body, and not to the ball of helpless emotions lodged in his chest.

He would get up!

Failing that, he was determined to crawl forward if he had to, but he wouldn't give up for anything.

He managed to sit himself up, body protesting with searing jolts of pain singing through his nerves, but he manages, legs spread on the ground in front of him, as he leaned to the side, one hand carelessly thrown out to steady him.

His breathing was becoming suspiciously thick, bubbling like he had water in his lungs, instead of air.

He panted, vainly trying to catch his breath, taking a much needed rest until he tried to stand from there.

_It hurt so much._

But when he finally, after a few long moments tried to push through his knees to standing, he was met with a complete refusal of his body. It didn't even seem to try to move at all.

He growled out his frustration to the stars above, his only companions, as he clenched his fists. Or tried- for even that only elicited a twitch of his fingers.

He looked down at them with horror.

It felt very much as if his own body was betraying him.

Dammit! Just move! Why won't you-?!

His breath caught, stuck in his choked throat as he blinked rapidly.

Not knowing else what to do, he threw his head back to stare up at the dark sky above him. He got a blinding flash of burning yellow lamplight instead, which illuminated the traitorous tears making dirty tracks down his face.

He moved his gaze immediately, but was distressed to find the black dots in his vision weren't going away.

His body was shutting down on him, and he could do nothing about it.

…

_Sasuke…_

It hurt so bad…

He was surely about to pass out, right in the middle of some unknown street, with no one around, to be left for some merciless hunters to find.

And he hadn't found Sasuke yet…

_He was all alone._

Everything burned within him, and fuelled one last push.

Get up!

With the very last of his strength he tottered worryingly onto his feet.

And nearly as soon fell down again.

But with determination tearing his very insides apart, his managed to reach out to the lamp post beside him and cling onto it, stalling his renewed meeting with the rough road beneath his feet.

He let his eyes slip closed as his vision swayed dangerously, letting his forehead rest against the cool metal.

He'd just stay here a moment, and then he could keep going.

He couldn't exactly be sure how long that moment dragged on for…a few seconds…a minute or two…half an hour.

All he knew was that his swimming head was brought away suddenly from the soothing coolness of the metal by a sound, much closer than the others.

Wildly cursing that it could be a hunter, he whirled around, but still keeping a death grip on the pole, determined to meet whatever it was head on.

Wild blue eyes roved the street from one end to the next, ears straining to hear that soft, strange sound of footfalls.

For a few, excruciating seconds, just enough time for him to believe it could have been a stray cat, he saw something shift under the shadows, and felt his heart enter his mouth even as he squinted in its direction to attempt to make it out.

He sniffed the air lightly, trying to make out a scent over the overpowering smell of blood that smothered him- both his own and others.

He nearly reeled back as the scent hit him like a wave of stampeding water; it was so thick and heavy and purely feral he couldn't place it at all.

He instead could only watch in a sort of awed wonder as the thing shifted, the shadows seeming to bend around it before it finally came out, padding with a soft silence that belied its size.

Naruto felt all his breath be seized from his body as he stared.

It was…it was…he didn't know…

A big hulking…_thing,_ easily over two metres at the shoulder and several long, he supposed it was some sort of animal- though not like any he'd ever seen before in his life.

It was feline in shape, that was clear enough, like an extremely oversized big cat.

But no cat had muscle shape like that.

It had a thick coat, long thick silky black fur that shifted like an all-encompassing mass over a strongly muscled body. Strong haunches that would surely easily propel it with an extreme speed, and a long tail where the fur lengthened even further swaying almost delicately behind the creature.

It's paws; large enough to remove a man's head with one swat, were equipped with unsheathed ivory claws. Claws that were inches long and curved in a way so the inside had pin sharp serrations, which seemed familiar in a way Naruto couldn't explain.

Black ears twitched and a dark nose sniffed the air.

Despite being obviously cat-like in appearance, the head was slightly different, the maw elongated to fit it's teeth, which practically burst from its mouth. Long and a matching ivory white, they were triangular before coming to a serrated point and fit together more like a shark's. It was more than obvious that that jaw could crush through plated steel, never mind a weak, fleshy human body.

Naruto had never seen anything like it; it wasn't any sort of normal animal; it looked…it looked positively demonic in appearance.

And it appeared to have noticed him, by the way its dark wet nose twitched, before that grand head swung to face him.

A rumbling growl that seemed to fill the entire street was echoed out of the beast's slightly opened mouth.

Naruto was frozen to the spot as it began to move towards him at an almost languid pace, moving further into the light as it did so, making its pitch fur shimmer a hypnotising blue, and flooding its large eyes with light.

Red.

Blood red.

It was right beside him and he could only shudder at its presence.

He clung even tighter to the post, but he couldn't move. His face was two inches from it; red eyes boring into his and if he'd been able to think anything, he would surely have thought it was about to eat him.

His entire body was trembling, and he knew it was on the verge of collapse, but all he could do was _stare. _Numbly.

Those teeth were so close, and they parted, revealing a black hole of a mouth.

And it then began to…lick him?

Shocked, he couldn't do much more than stand as a pink tongue swiped at his face, the surface rough like sandpaper, just as a cat's.

Dazed, he put all his energy to stay upright against the forceful tongue bath he was being subjected to, and he registered dimly that the thing was purring.

Blood red eyes.

Spinning.

A hopeful swell of warmth began to suffuse his chest, and he tentatively raised a hand, staring at the being in wonder as he let his hand fall through long, thick silky fur.

It was so soft.

"Sasuke…" he whispered.

The scent, though thicker and much more…animal, was very familiar.

The tongue became a bit more vigorous and a strangely plaintive whine resounded from the beast's chest as it found the wound amid Naruto's golden strands and laved it with particular gentleness.

Another round of slow tears ran down his face, but this time Naruto didn't feel guilty about them. He only wanted to laugh, despite his aching ribs, and everything else.

"Sasuke!"

He finally let go of the post to instead cling to his mate's fur.

He let one of his hands continue to run through it, amazed.

There was absolutely no doubt that the creature before him was Sasuke- _he'd finally found him- _but obviously it was more than a small surprise to see him like this.

He swallowed.

Maybe it wasn't so weird. He'd seen the Uchiha with claws, fangs, ears and a tail. Even fur on his hands. He'd even had foxy features of his own. It wasn't a giant leap to think that obviously these features all led up to something more- another form.

Youkai wouldn't normally look so much like humans would they?

He'd think about it more later…now, he just wanted to wallow in the presence of his mate, who wasn't seriously injured, dead or captured.

They'd be okay.

The relief nearly made him topple right over unconsciousness right there and then, surrounded by the presence of the youkai, but he managed to keep his eyes open.

The sound of shouts and the clash of metal from not too far away was reminder enough that they weren't through with the night yet and he gripped onto Sasuke tighter.

The cat seemed to agree with him, stopping in his cleaning to stare off into the distance, ears twitching.

But only for a moment, before turning back to Naruto.

The blond met his Sharingan eyes unflinchingly, and when the Uchiha made a strange rumbling sound from his throat and offered his back, Naruto quickly understood and stumbled the last couple of feet, reaching up to take a strong hold onto the thick fur and pulled himself onto Sasuke's broad back.

It was a struggle, but his body seemed to have recovered a little with the small break, his chakra finally starting to work at the rate it should.

Nonetheless, he was exhausted, and it took his all to hold on tight with his fingers. He could feel the thick, strong muscles tensing and flexing underneath him, and he was jostled just as Sasuke straightened.

It was enough for him to instinctively know that this was going to be rough ride, though at the same time he had to hide a delirious grin into the fur he was holding so tightly onto; it was just such an unreal thought that he'd be riding like this on Sasuke's _back._

The muscles flexed and Naruto had to quickly tighten his grip even further as the youkai began to move, rapidly jumping to a flying pace.

Naruto peeked over a shoulder to see the street's concrete speeding under them at an extreme rate. His wonder didn't end as Sasuke kept his speed, paws barely seeming to touch the ground.

The scenery; buildings, flames, glass, all whipped past them. Naruto was so distracted by it; he didn't even notice the block in their path, in the form of a heavily destroyed building, the wreckage strewn right across the entire street.

He only took notice at the strange change in pace from below before vertigo seized his stomach as the scenery he'd been watching shrunk.

He snapped his head around only to find that Sasuke had simply jumped right over it, taking his time to land on the glassy _side_ of a building, before pushing off to land smoothly on the other side.

The wind that stung his face was enough and he squeezed his eyes tightly shut as he saw the ground fast approaching them.

How high had Sasuke gone?!

Dreading the landing, he grit his teeth as he found it just as bad as he'd thought it'd be, the great cat's limbs bending to gracefully take the fall, but at the same time, shoving Naruto forward with enough momentum to have him nearly fall right off.

Only his death grip on Sasuke's under fur saved him from that painful fate.

He opened his mouth to yell his utter outrage at the stupid bastard below him, but the wind stole his breath before he could form a single word and he was forced to close it again.

Sasuke just loped on, making great time through the empty streets, the few people they met; hunters or youkai, all moved out of the way with haste, staring at the pair with wide eyes, no chance to follow them.

It was an amazing feeling, and Naruto grinned helplessly into Sasuke's fur.

But eventually, it seemed even Sasuke would tire, and his steps, though still unfairly graceful, began to slow until the youkai was the equivalent of trotting, and then simply walking, slowing fiercely in a short amount of time.

It was quieter here, but who really knew where all the tenmakashi were hiding?

But Sasuke was obviously lagging, and Naruto could fancy that his proud mate had also been running on nothing more than pure adrenalin for some time now too.

So he said nothing at all, gratefully sliding from his back, to settle on unsteady feet on the hard ground.

He gave a rub on the cat's flank, but quickly pulled it back in disgust when he found his hand rubbing against something coarse and gritty. Another look showed it to be dried blood, plastered to his side.

Eyes flaring, he took another look, to find that Sasuke was even more covered in the stuff than himself.

Before he could check to see if the Uchiha was injured (he hadn't seemed to be, but that meant nothing), Sasuke's form buckled unexpectedly.

Unsure what to do Naruto simply stood as Sasuke appeared to shrink, dropping to his knees as the sound of bones cracking echoed in the still air around them.

Dark fur began to recede, and with it the other features, pale, bloodied skin taking its place, blood red eyes fading back to black and grey.

Before he knew it, Sasuke had changed back into the man he was familiar with.

With no further thought, he jumped on the trembling boy, ignoring Sasuke's irritated hiss as they both were sent sprawling to the ground.

Hungry lips found each other in the tangle of limbs, and they clung to each other with a fierce possessiveness; Naruto had his fingers curled into matted bangs, while Sasuke was digging much blunter nails into the blonde's hips.

The kiss was quick, hard and full of a violent passion. Naruto even managed to give him a split lip that bled as they pulled away, panting for breath.

Their noses were brushing, side by side as Sasuke brought up his hands to hold Naruto's head close, his strong grip pushing down the usually stubborn blond locks. Naruto closed his eyes against the sensation in a momentary moment of bliss, and they both revelled in being together once more.

But time was against them and they could take only the moment before they both had to pull away, the scorching trail of something blazing in the sky bringing them back to their senses.

They stood slowly, wearily testing fragile limbs, and Naruto refused to let go of the hold he had on the Uchiha's arm. Suddenly, he realised he should say something.

"Sasuke…" he muttered, not sure how to continue. Black eyes darted to his, and he found his lips moving again.

"We…we should go find Iruka or something- I don't know where he is and we got separated earlier-!"

Sasuke gave a harsh yank on the blonde's arm, effectively silencing him as Naruto peered at him questioningly through the gloom.

"Don't bother with that, Iruka is Kakashi's responsibility."

The blond frowned, and opened his mouth to protest, but Sasuke ignored him and set off at a surprisingly fast pace in the opposite direction. Unwilling to relinquish his hold, Naruto dragged on along behind him.

"Sasuke…what are we going to do?" he asked tentatively.

He wanted to find Iruka, tell him he was all right…tell him he was sorry for yelling earlier. But Iruka had wanted them to leave- go where Naruto didn't know, but surely Iruka would have gone to safety by now?

His stomach twisted in protest, but he didn't let it bother him, resting his gaze on the back of a purposeful Sasuke. Kakashi may be a shameless pervert, but he was sure that he'd make sure Iruka was all right and safe; so he didn't have to worry.

It was a small balm, but Naruto knew he would surely see him again soon for himself.

Sasuke didn't say anything to him at first, only a small grunt of acknowledgement, and Naruto suddenly realised for the first time that it was cold. It was the middle of the night and now the exertions were over, the chill was making his twitching limbs all the worse.

It was dark around them, and somehow very lonely.

He swallowed thickly.

They finally halted about five minutes later, where Naruto noticed that they were near the outskirts of the city, the blaze of car headlights a fleeting glimpse out of the corner of his eye of the big road that he'd ridden in Iruka's old battered jeep a few months ago when he first came here to Tokyo.

He'd known so little back then he realised, and a strange mixture of nostalgia and sadness settled in his chest, only to be blown away like meaningless sand as he turned back to see Sasuke's face, the shadows playing weird tricks over his features.

The tenmakashi, the fact he'd been fighting for his life, all seemed very far away, despite the echoes of pain still lancing through his body. There was a weird look on Sasuke's face, what he could see of it, and all the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end.

"Naruto," he muttered softly, "we need to leave."

Naruto blinked as he felt the hand gripping his wrist squeeze him.

"But, go where?"

Sasuke sighed, and averted his gaze, just a little- to the side and Naruto suddenly felt just as lonely as the empty streets surrounding them.

He watched as Sasuke stared into the far distance, not seeming to see anything, before he turned back to face him with a bitter chuckle.

"You know, I planned all of this a long time ago, before I even knew you existed…what a funny thing."

"Sasuke?" questioned Naruto in a very soft voice, full of an uncertain unease. Trepidation filled him as Sasuke finally met his gaze head on, the coal black eyes seeming to stare right through him; they gleamed in the low starlight.

"Naruto," he started very seriously, though his voice showed all the inflection of a stone, "I've made plans, lots of them- this little show tonight changes none of them, only the timing. I need to leave- leave the city for a long while."

He paused, and Naruto couldn't do a thing as those eyes pierced him in his place.

"It may be years until I can fully return, do you understand?"

"Sasuke…"

No, he didn't, he didn't seem to understand anything Sasuke said. Something painful, like jagged shears, was twisting around in his stomach, and his chest felt too tight to breathe. His ears mustn't be working right either.

And then Sasuke smiled.

It was small, and simple and Naruto could barely catch a glimpse of it before it was gone before his eyes. Before he could identify what was wrong with it.

"Of course, Naruto, you could come with me."

He said it so casually, you could almost mistake it for so, but as Naruto simply looked at him, he could somehow tell that the boy was sweating inside.

Or whatever the Uchiha version if it was.

The blonde's lips twitched into a secret smile, before it quickly morphed into a knowing sort of grin. He tugged playfully on his mate's arm.

"Na, na, you know I couldn't let you go anywhere without me!"

Sasuke sighed, sounding strangely grave.

"Naruto, you know you might not see Iruka or anyone else for a very long time?"

Blue eyes blinked and appeared to cloud in thought, and for not the first time that night, Naruto turned his gaze temporarily to the stars shining above them so far away.

He wouldn't see Iruka again, huh? Not for a long time. That meant that their parting earlier would be a goodbye. And all the others, like Kakashi and the friends he'd made.

He turned his attention back to the city, with its towering peaks of glass and metal, and how the sky above was tinged yellow and red with fire and blood. He could still hear, even from this far away the hoarse shouts filling the air.

He glanced back towards the great road with all its cars, and smiled a little.

He turned to find Sasuke regarding him blankly.

"It's fine," said Naruto lightly, "I trust you Sasuke."

His smile didn't leave him.

"And besides, I love you," he took great pleasure in the way charcoal eyes widened briefly and he squeezed the arm in his grip gently, "I'd follow after you till the ends of the earth if I had to."

Sasuke seemed to regain his bearings a bit at that, all the important things that were left unsaid answered between them, and Naruto's smile turned into a malicious sort of grin at Sasuke's answering smirk.

"Well, what are we waiting for then?"

Sasuke's words were lost to the wind, and then they were running, running from the city to the wilderness of the countryside, running out of sight.

Somewhere along the way, their hands found each other and laced tightly, and they ran together, right from under the star filled sky.

* * *

**A/N: It's done! I hope that climax was worth while! But as i'm sure you can tell, the real fun is just beginning, for the sequel is yet to come.**

**The working title at the minute for this is 'Blossoming Dawn' but may be subject to change, check my profile or, the best would be to put me on author alert to make sure you don't miss out. It should be coming soon! In the meantime, its been great guys, ja!**


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